


Ultimate Survivor

by Hilanite



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Different Culprits, Different Survivors, Multi, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, different victims
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:08:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28704924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hilanite/pseuds/Hilanite
Summary: Now, I’m sure you remember what I told you, but just in case: the mastermind is one of the 16 of you.A canon rewrite with Rantaro as the protagonist. Different Survivors, Victims, Culprits, Motives and additional survivor perks.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede & Momota Kaito, Amami Rantaro & K1-B0, Amami Rantaro & Momota Kaito, Amami Rantaro & Oma Kokichi, Amami Rantaro/Tojo Kirumi, Chabashira Tenko/Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, K1-B0 & Oma Kokichi
Comments: 42
Kudos: 75





	1. Daily Life

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy! I’m very welcome to any feedback or grammar errors you have as this is my first time writing for this site so I do expect a couple errors, please don’t worry about pointing them out.

_ Ultimate Survivor. _

The words brought chills to Rantaro for many reasons, but mainly because of it’s implications. A survivor.  _ What have I had to survive?  _ Even worse, the question brought a sharp pain to the back of his head. His talent had also provided him with a bonus. The perk pad. He’d been taking a look through it over the past couple of days, but it was beginning to feel more like a hinderance then a perk. According to the map, there was only one hidden room he could enter, located in the library. He planned to take a look later on, but right now there was something much more important to think about.

The screen in his room made it hard to forget.  _ 8 hours left. _ He hadn’t originally seen the point in the additional motive, but he understood now. It was the dread. The tension, the fear of what would happen if someone wasn’t murdered. As sick as it was, he couldn’t deny that it was a powerful motivator.

He hadn’t been able to sleep very well, and since sitting alone thinking about the motive wouldn’t help him feel any better, he decided it was time to head to the dining hall, even if nighttime wasn’t officially over yet. The courtyard was empty, and that pattern continued as he walked through the school. As predicted, the morning announcement went off just before he walked into the dining hall, meaning he could get some much needed coffee and some food with it.

A couple people started to funnel in a few minutes after, but way less than the previous days. The first person was Kirumi Tojo, who quickly rushed over to him. “Rantaro, you know I could be making your breakfast, you only had to ask. I’m making everyone else’s already.” He would’ve like to argue, but it didn’t seem like she was really asking. “Thank you Kirumi, I’ll go sit down.”

He didn’t really feel like talking to anybody, so he listened. Despite only knowing them for a short period of time, it felt like he’d heard a lot of the conversations before. Angie trying to spread her religion, Tenko trying to talk to Himiko and being ignored, Gonta discussing bugs with whoever would listen and Kokichi doing everything he could to aggravate people. Rantaro wouldn’t exactly say he was paranoid, but he didn’t feel he could trust any of these people either.  _ Who knows what they might be hiding. _

“Sup’ Amami?” Kaito asked, taking the seat next to him. “Not much. How’d you sleep?” Rantaro didn’t mind the small talk, but it did slightly bother him that people were acting casual when there was a good chance they’d all be dead soon. He still couldn’t blame them though, it was clear that everyone was forcing it. “It was alright. Would’ve been better if that bastard over there didn’t interrupt me.” He groans, pointing at Kokichi. “At 4am, he ran up to my door and banged as loud as he could before running away.”

“There’s no proof it was me!” The subject yelled, causing Rantaro and Kokichi’s eyes to meet, with the smaller boy starting to blow kisses, making the other look away quickly. “Pretty annoying, right?” The survivor simply nodded, not really wanting to talk about Kokichi any longer. “What are you two talking about?” Keebo asked, receiving an answer in the form of Kaito’s nod towards the subject. “What’re you doing here Kii-boy? You can’t eat food! You’ll explode!” The subject responded.

“Kokichi please, I am still allowed to participate in the breakfast discussions! Plus, it is impossible for me to explode!”

“Maybe Idabashi lied! Oh oh or! OR! Maybe there’s a button on you that’ll make you self destruct? That would be so cool!”

“Enough! I’m sick of being treated like an object for your entertainment! I’m a person! You are being robophobic!” 

“Robophobia isn’t a thing, you made it up. No chance anyone else invented that, you’re literally the only robot, Kii-boy!”

The argument got worse from there, with Kaito and Gonta joining in to defend the robot. “Rantaro,” Kirumi whispers, rushing over to him. “Can you please go find Kaede for me? She will be able to stop this argument. Or at the very least, calm Kaito and Gonta down.” 

“Of course I can.” He nodded, exchanging a smile with her and quickly hurrying out of the dining room’s door.

Kaede and Shuichi were walking out of the dormitories when he met with them. “Hey, sorry to interrupt you two.” He awkwardly smiled, rubbing the back of his head. “Kirumi asked me to get Kaede because a ton of people are in an argument in the dining room. She thinks you’ll be able to calm them down. Well, most of them.”

“Can’t someone else do it? This is kind of important.”  _Important, huh?_ The green haired boy noted. “It’ll be fine Kaede, I’ll go alone and we can meet up after.” Shuichi assured. “If you’re sure. I’ll meet back up with you after this once you have the stuff from—“ She froze, remembering Rantaro’s presence, who was very clearly listening in. “After you do that thing. See you then!” Shuichi nodded and walked away slowly. “Sorry, feels like I might’ve interrupted something important there.” He awkwardly smiled, leading Kaede to the door of the hall. “What? N-No it was nothing at all! We were just going to look at Miu’s lab, that’s all...” The girl quickened her pace, hoping to avoid the conversation.“Sure, sounds important.” He agreed, sounding unconvinced but letting it go. 

“Kokichi, enough! Gonta is sick of this!” Those remaining in the room were in full blown row, or more specifically, everyone was rowing with Kokichi at once. “Okay, okay,that’s enough!” Kaede yelled, clapping loudly. “Kokichi, if you’re just going to just aggravate people, you should just leave. I’m sure everyone will be better off for it.”

Rantaro prepared himself for the comeback. But no comeback came. Instead, it was the opposite of what he’d expected. “You’re so mean to me!” He whined, tears falling from his eyes. “Now I’ll never tell Gonta his secret!” He screamed, running out. “Wait! Gonta must know Gonta’s secret!” Gonta quickly broke and chased after him, barging through the doors and calling for the leader.

“You handled that very well Kaede, thank you.” The maid approved, cleaning up the dishes from breakfast. “Thanks for leaving Shuichi to help, whatever you two were doing was important, right?” The green haired boy asked, grinning. “Oh!” Kaede quickly headed for the door. “I completely forgot about him!”

The two watched her walk away, with Kirumi now impressively balancing plates on her arms. “How do you feel about her?” Kirumi asked. “As a leader, I mean.” She clarified, quickly looking away. “I like her. She’s taken to the role quite well. I think she has a good chance of keeping everyone alive.”  _ Maybe I can trust her?  _ “I agree. Please excuse me, I must wash these dishes.

Rantaro did his best to walk causally out of the dining hall and into the bathroom. Quickly pulling out the perk pad, he confirmed the hidden room’s location, and the details of how to open the secret door. Supposedly provided by himself. Walking through the halls, he saw no one.  _ Perfect.  _ Unfortunately, his luck quick evaporated as someone was occupying the library. Peeking inside, he could see Shuichi and Kaede.  _ What are they doing?  _ “Do you think one of the cameras will fit over here?” Kaede asked, heading over to a bookshelf.

_ Cameras. There’s no way they won’t catch me looking at the secret door now.... if they’re setting up cameras, they must somehow know about the door. I’ll have to wait until the cameras are gone. However long that’ll be. _

Outside, Rantaro ran into Angie, Himiko, Tenko, Gonta and Tsumugi. “We’ve formed a prayer circle to please Atua! Join us!” Rantaro didn’t exactly want to say yes, but didn’t feel Angie was giving him a choice. “Fantastic! Sit in the position we are all in!” They all say cross legged with their hands together, resting their temple on the tips of their fingers. “Rantaro... clear your mind. You will hear a voice.. it’ll tell you that everything is okay. It’ll tell you that it’ll save you, that it’ll keep you safe from any danger this school may provide. That voice.... that voice is Atua. Through my guidance, that voice will grow stronger and soon, Atua will be able to guide you through your lives. Atua will protect you. Atua will keep you safe. More importantly, Atua will never leave you once he’s there. Through my guidance, I can give you all of that.”

“That sounds nice....” Himiko sighed. “I’ve been so worried, and I’m so tired already......”

“Gonta does appreciate someone to protect him too. Gonta vows to protect others, but Gonta sometime wonder who would protect him.”

_ Angie is luring them into a false sense of security, making them believe they’re safe when they’re actually in an incredibly dangerous situation. Why does this seem so familiar? I’ll have to keep an eye on her  before she causes trouble.  _

“I don’t think this is really for me. Good luck with finding yourselves, I’m sure Atua will definitely protect you from all of this.” He sarcastically said, throwing out his arms. “Goodbye Rantaro! May Atua find you another time!” He really needed a lie down at this point, it may have only been midday but his classmates had been exhausting.

In the dorms, Kirumi was cleaning Kokichi’s room. She’s taken out multiple boxes, and the room appeared to somehow already be stuffed full of random stuff. Taking pity, heoffered his help. “Don’t worry, thank you but I’m fully equipped to handle everyone’s workload.”

“If you say so.” Through the door, the countdown stared him down. “Only a couple hours left.. I’m starting to get a little nervous if I’m being honest.” 

“Don’t worry,” She assured, removing the last of the boxes. “There’s been so much effort put into all this, I refuse to believe they’d just kill us all immediate—“

“How can you be so sure?” Monokuma asked, climbing out from under the bed. “16 ultimates are easier to find then you’d imagine, you know!”

“How exactly did you do that? Were you under there just waiting for an opportunity to appear? How long were you waiting?” 

“No! Don’t you think I have more important things to do?” The bear argued, somehow starting to sweat. “I just have tunnels leading to every room and thought I’d pop in to see my two favourite students!”

“Really?” The maid questioned. “So I’m sure if I look under here then..” She continued, crouching down and peering under the bed. “I don’t see any tunnels. I think you were just there the entire time. It explains why I haven’t seen you yet today.”

“Grrr..... you kids have no respect for me! Just you wait until the inevitable class trial! I’ll have all the power then!” Shoving past Rantaro, the bear ran out of sight. “Y’know, it makes me uncomfortable how strangely entertaining he is, considering he’s the symbol of whoever have trapped us here.” 

“I see what you mean.. don’t worry about what he said. I believe in everyone, I’m hopeful nobody will crack under the pressure.”

“Yeah.... you’re right. I just have to believe in everyone.” 

The two talked for a little while longer, until Kirumi had finished and had to go attend to other jobs. “What do I do with my time now?” He murmured to himself, walking into the courtyard. Checking his watch, it was exactly five. That gave him some time still. Not much, but some. 

“Rantaro! Get over here!” The boy groaned, slowly walking over to the girl. “What’s wrong Tenko?” She scoffed and quickly started to walk until the school, motioning for him to follow. “There’s a meeting in the games room downstairs, and you’re wanted. Don’t think I want to be here, I just couldn’t let Himiko or Maki go because you’d be inappropriate.”

“What is your problem with men? Being a degenerate isn’t defined by gender y’know, it’s defined by actions.” 

“Don’t make me resort to restraining you, because I won’t hesitate!” Practically pushing him into the games room, he was faced with Himiko, Tsumugi, Gonta, Kaito, Maki, Kokichi and Angie having a debate. The clock read 2 past. _This is going to take forever, I can already tell._ This line of discussion is pointless. Monokuma organised this entire school, do you honestly think you’ll be able to stop him? And what about the Exials? They’re armed with machine guns and armour plating.” 

“How can you be so sure? We’re all well equipped to fight, too. Can’t you have a little faith, Maki?” Kaito countered, now leaning against the door.

“Sorry, but I’m going to leave.” Tsumugi sighed. “I’m not even sure why I was invited anyway. I’m not a fighter.

A fighter? What exactly is this meeting about?” The Survivor hesitantly asked. “We’re gonna fight Monokuma, that’s what.” 

“You can’t be serious. That’ll never work. Don’t you realise whoever’s controlling those bears had to have overpowered us to get us here?”

“An excellent point, Rantaro! We ourselves cannot face Monokuma alone! We must all pray to Atua and ask for his guidance—“

“Are you seriously still going on about that? No one’s buying into your little cult, Angie.” Kokichi mockingly grinned over from the—  _ wait, why is Kokichi even here? There’s no chance he was invited, he can’t fight. Hell, I can barely fight.  _ “Gonta is tired of friends arguing. Gonta will be watching bug movies in AV room. Goodbye friends.” Gonta rushed into the AV room, quickly shutting the door before anyone could protest.

“Angie, Maki and Himiko! I was willing to bear the other boys for all of you, but considering Kokichi wasn’t even invited, I demand he is removed!” Not even bothering to check the boys opinion, Tenko quickly grabbed Kokichi and removed him. “Fine! I’ll go find Kirumi, at least she loves me!”

Kaito’s demeanour faltered as the third person left the meeting. “Maybe this isn’t such a great idea..”

“N-No... it’ll work.” Himiko spoke up for the first time. “It has to. I can’t stay here any longer.”

“You heard her! We have to do this!” The astronaut quickly recovered. “Atua suggests we drop something really heavy on Monokuma? That’d crush him right?” 

“I bet Himiko could summon something! You can use your mage skills, right?”

“Nyeeeh... sorry Tenko... I’m low on Mana. I can’t help you.”

“Hey! Who’s low on Mana? Don’t you have any potions left? I have thousands y’know. I use them all for my massive spells that’ll soon kill you all! Unless, of course one of you decides too—“ 

“Get out of here! This is a private meeting!” Kaito yelled, throwing a book at Monokuma. “Grrr..... you’re lucky I dodged that with my super speed.” Showing Kaito a claw, the bear quickly ran off. 

The conversation began to pick up again as Angie announced more and more of her God’s ideas. Rantaro wasn’t really listening, so when Gonta burst in and ran over to Kaito, so panicked that he couldn’t properly speak. “Hey guys... anyone else seeing this?” Rantaro asked to no response. After a couple minutes, Kaito seemed to finally understand and the two ran out the door.  _ I should definitely _ _ go see what’s happening..  _

“That’s it!” Tenko yelled, pointing at Rantaro. “You degenerates keep leaving when we’re trying to plan! It’s just you left now, and you’re not going anywhere. You will listen to Angie and Himiko’s incredible planning!”

“I really think I should go see what Gonta and Kaito were so panicked about.”

“Nothing they’re talking about can possibly be as important as Himiko’s—“

The monitors interrupted with a ding, switching from the countdown to Monokuma’s grinning face. “A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the library!”

Lying by one of the cameras, covered in blood and with a knife sticking out of him, was the body of Shuichi Saihara.


	2. Deadly Life

It didn’t feel real. Minutes passed, but it all felt like a dream. Clutching his hat, she tried to wake herself up. Even as Kaito and Gonta burst in, Kaede barely recognised their presence. Even when Korekiyo leaned down and pulled the knife out, she barely reacted.

The Anthropologist looked the knife over carefully and groaned. “What’s wrong?” Korekiyo barely heard Ryoma. 

“This... this is my knife.” Silence. Angie and Himiko not so subtly stepped away.   


“ Wow! It’s almost like someone died in here!” Monokuma cheered, appearing from under a desk. “Come to me my kubs!”

“Rise and shine, Ursine!”

“Bwahahahahahahah! One of you losers finally cracked! I’m so glad it was the detective. Way less fun if some nerd’s gonna figure the crime out in a minute!” 

“Good news! Father has created a case file for all of you to see! Take a look on your monopad. Isn’t he generous?” 

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** Monokuma File:  ** Shuichi Saihara was stabbed in the abdomen in the library. He died instantly. His body was discovered at 5:12 pm.

“This hardly helps at all. It tells us nothing.” Rantaro sighed and shoved it back in his pocket. “That’s on purpose!” Monokuma scowled. “Usually I’d fill in the time of death as well, but that’ll give away the culprit. You’ve all got as long as until I get bored to investigate. Goooooooood luck!” 

“So long, bear well!” With all bears gone from the room, people started to leave, or more specifically, wanted to get away from Korekiyo as quickly as they could. Most people weren’t equipped with bodies or investigation anyway, so nobody tried to stop them. By the end, Rantaro, Kaede, Korekiyo, Keebo, Gonta, Kirumi, Miu and Kokichi were the only ones remaining. “I don’t even see the point in investigating. It’s so obviously Korekiyo! It is his knife after all. Gonta, tie him up!”

“Okay! Does anyone have a rope?” 

“Do not!” Kirumi quickly escorted Kokichi from the room, shutting the doors behind them. “Okay then, with that over let’s start with the body.” Rantaro crouched down and started to investigate. Or at least, he tried to, as the pianist wouldn’t move from his body. “Kaede, maybe you should go get a drink. You look pretty shaken up.”

“No. I have to help find his killer. I have to get him justice.”

“Okay... what if you went to gather alibis of the people who left the room? That way, you’d be helping gather evidence but wouldn’t have to keep staring at... him.” 

“.....Let me know what you find.” He nodded in response, and she quickly walked out of the room. He turned his attention back to the body, being joined by Korekiyo.  _ There’s nothing here.  _ “I presume you’re coming to the same conclusion I have from observing?” Rantaro nodded, prompting Korekiyo to sigh. “A shame... I’d hoped you would see something I hadn’t. At least we still have those scraps over there.”  _ Scraps? _

Two cameras had been taken from their hiding spots and were smashed on the ground. “My precious work...” Miu was close to tears, standing over one. “I was up all night...”

“You made those?” Keebo questioned, quickly rushing over to hold her. “Yeah... Kaediot and Po— Shuichi asked me to make them. They wouldn’t tell me what for. Whoever did it took the film as well.”

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

**Cameras:** Two cameras hidden in the library were found smashed on the ground. The film was removed. They were created by Miu for Kaede and Shuichi.

“What could they want cameras for?” _If only you knew, Korekiyo._

——————

“So... where were you during the murder?” The dining hall was occupied by Tenko, Himiko, Angie and Kaito. “I was in that damn meeting.” Kaito answered quickly. “What meeting?” 

“Oh right, you wouldn’t know. Angie got the idea to have a meeting in the games room about trying to fight Monokuma. Himiko, Gonta, Rantaro, Tsumugi and Tenko were also there. Tsumugi left only a couple minutes in. Gonta left to watch bug films a while after. That’s everyone I’m pretty sure. Oh and Kokichi, but he wasn’t invited and they threw him out after a couple minutes.”

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** The Meeting:  ** Himiko, Gonta, Rantaro, Tsumugi, Angie, Kaito, Tenko and Kokichi met in the games room. Tsumugi left for the bathroom, Gonta left after a few minutes to watch bug films, and Kokichi was thrown out. 

“What made you go to the library?”

“A few minutes into the meeting, Gonta went into the AV room. A little while later, he tried to leave through the side door for some reason, but it was stuck to only move a small gap. The library’s side door was open though, so he saw... the body. I was leaning against the door when Gonta ran in, but he was so panicked that it took him a little while to explain to me what was happening. When he eventually did, we ran out and found.. you two.”

“I think that’ll work. I hope so, at least. I better get to asking other people now. Thanks, Kaito.” 

“No problem! If you need my help, just let me know. I can tell you’re a little shook up.”

After three brief, yet all equally excruciating conversations with Himiko, Tenko and Angie that all backed up Kaito’s story, Kaede set off to find the rest of the alibis she needed. 

She walked to the dorms next and found Ryoma and Kirumi, with the maid cleaning Kaito’s room and Ryoma standing around with no real purpose. “I was alone, in my room the entire time.” Ryoma answered, pulling a candy cigarette out of his pocket. “No one saw you?”

“The only person who saw me was Korekiyo, as we were both leaving the dorms after the body announcement at the same time.”

“At least that means I can cross your alibi off the list already. What about you, Kirumi?” 

“I was cleaning dishes durning the time the period of time the murder could’ve happened. I had just parted ways with Rantaro and headed directly to the kitchen. Around six past, Kokichi came in. Tsumugi came in a few minutes after, and we were all together until the body announcement.” 

——————

“Ah, I see what you mean.” The green haired boy smiled to Gonta. “This door was stuck, but you could still see through. Alright, thanks Gonta. How long were you in here before you saw the fight?”

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** AV Room Door:  ** The door in the av room is stuck, but allows a gap for someone to look through.

“Gonta thinks he was a couple minutes into his movie when he heard a noise and tried to go outside to see what it was. Gonta saw the library door open and the bookcase facing the door, which Gonta didn’t understand. Gonta heard struggling and the bookcase some how moved back and when it did, Gonta saw Shuichi lying on the floor. Gonta think Shuichi was bleeding at that point, and Gonta ran back into games room to try and help friend. Kaito was blocking the door and Gonta struggled to explain but Gonta took a few minutes before he could finally get it across. When we got there, Kaede was already there and Shuichi was gone. Gonta feels like he failed his friend.”

“You didn’t fail, you did everything you could’ve.” Gonta nodded, but didn’t seem convinced. “Rantaro, Gonta. Could you please come with me?” The anthropologist  requested, leading them to the stairs. “I’d like your help going to look at my room. Somebody somehow took my knife from my desk while I was in the shower, and I have to figure out how they did it.”

“You were in the shower the whole time?” 

“Yes. A little embarrassing, but I enjoy taking long, half an hour showers. I was only interrupted by the body announcement.”

Rantaro and Kaede passed by each other on the way, and they exchanged what they’d found out so far. “Going off Kaede’s information about the meeting and when Shuichi left, I was in the shower for the entirety of when the murder could’ve happened. I hope my room holds clues, or I fear I’ll be voted the culprit.”

Korekiyo’s room was spotless. Not a single thing appeared out of place, and everything was where it should be. “This isn’t good..” The room’s owner agonised. “It’s okay. There is some evidence to what you’re saying. The shower cubicle is wet, so it’s definitely been used.”

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** Korekiyo’s room:  ** Everything in the main room is spotless, however the bathroom indicates the shower has recently been used.

“I doubt that’ll be enough to prove anything..”

“Don’t worry! Gonta believes in you, as he does all his friends!”

——————

“That’s right, I left the meeting early on to go to the bathroom. After that, I went to the dining room to join Kirumi and Kokichi.” Kaede had just caught Tsumugi walking out of the bathroom, and cornered her. “ How do we know you weren’t cosplaying as someone else? Someone may have seen someone else doing something suspicions and I need to be sure that wasn’t actually you.”

“Fair enough, come back in here with me and I’ll prove I wasn’t cosplaying as someone else.” She pushed the bathroom door open, pulling Kaede in. “Take off your clothes.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t worry, I promise this’ll explain everything.” Kaede begrudgingly handed her clothes to the other girl, who turned her around. “No peeking!”  _ You didn’t turn around for me.  _ Kaede noted to herself, rolling her eyes.

“Okay I’m ready!” Turning around, Kaede had at first thought she was facing an alien. “Yeah.. not that attractive huh?” Tsumugi’s skin had completely turned into a deep pink. “This is cospox. It’s a condition I suffer from which means I can’t cosplay as real people.” Kaede quickly turned away again, and she eventually changed back. “Sorry for accusing you.... it wasn’t fair of me to think you would be pretending to be someone else, there’s not even any evidence for that anyway.” 

Tsumugi put her arm over Kaede’s shoulders. “Hey, hey it’s alright. Shuichi was important to you. It’s okay for you to be acting a little accusatory after what you’ve been through.” 

“Thanks.. I’m not sure it’s even really hit me yet. I just.. I can’t believe he’s gone. He promised me he’d come back. Why didn’t he come back?”

_ “I’ll be back soon Kaede, you don’t need to worry. I just need to clear them away from the library.” _

_ “You promise?” _

_ “I promise.” _

_ Kaede only saw Tsumugi and Kokichi after that. He’d ran past the classroom door pretending to cry, and their eyes met. The paranoia of what he was fake crying over is what finally broke her after a couple of minutes to run down and find him.  _

Kaede’s reminiscing didn’t last long. “It’s time for the trial!” Monokuma’s voice soared over the speakers. “I hope you’re all ready, because I sure am!”


	3. Class Trial

“I must say, the statue of Monokuma is weirdly impressive.” Korekiyo was admiring a large statue in the middle of the fountain which showed a strong, tall Monokuma. As Miu entered the room, the statue begin to crumble as a walkway was revealed. “A shame. It was oddly beautiful.”

All 15 students stepped into the elevator, and they were slowly escorted downwards. “So Dad,” Kokichi began, grabbing Rantaro’s hand. “Who do you think the culprit was?” 

“Get off me, I’m not your father.” Kokichi’s tears began to fall and he ran over to Kirumi sobbing. “Mom! Dad is being mean to me!” _If I’m Dad and she’s Mom then... Oh._ He quickly looked away as Kirumi did the same, and he internally begged for the elevator to finally stop. Eventually, it did.

“Welcome everyone! Please go to your assigned podium, and we’ll begin the class trial! Hope you’re all excited to find the blackened!”

“We are father!” Monotaro cheered. “We’re so excited to see you work!”

“HELL YEAH!!”

“Yeah! I can’t wait to find out who the culprit is!” Monophanie rejoiced while ushering a stubborn Kokichi to his podium. “Now, I explained this earlier, but here’s a recap! You all have as long as until I’m completely and utterly bored to figure out who the blackened is. If you vote for the right person, they will be punished! If you get it wrong, everyone else will die!”

“So! Where do we start?” The supreme leader grinned, looking to Kaede. “Me? I guess we should discuss the murder weapon?”

“I agree. Korekiyo’s knife being used is a clear indication of who the murderer is.” Tenko agreed, looking over to the anthologist.

“Very well. Let’s discuss it.”

“What is there to discuss? Korekiyo is clearly the killer, it’s his knife!” Kokichi grinned, throwing his arms behind his head. 

“I was in the shower the entire time. Somebody snuck in and stole it.”

“Did anybody see evidence of this? Atua finds Korekiyo incredibly suspicious.”

“Tell me, does your God always feel the same way you do?” The accused responded.

“I don’t really think that’s important.” Rantaro interjected. “Korekiyo’s shower cubicle was clearly used, Gonta will agree with me on that. It’s not much evidence, but it’s something.”

“I’ve been thinking on it more, and I believe there may be another line of thinking to prove my innocence. Alibis.”

“Who’s alibis?” Tenko asked. “When I was investigating the library, I happened to ask Keebo and Miu for their alibi as I was suspicious of her cameras. Turns out, they were in the courtyard playing with Monodam. There’s no way they couldn’t have seen me if I left my room to kill Shuichi.”

“I wasn’t playing with Monodam! I was just... examining him.” Miu muttered, turning attention the green robot. “The hell were you two doin’ Monodam?” Monokid yelled, ripping his guitar in half and throwing the bits at them. “I-REFUSE-TO-COMMENT.”

“Okay! Let’s move on from that.” Kaede clapped her hands together. “No matter what Miu was doing, there’s no way anyone could’ve sneaked past Keebo and her.”

“I’d like to explain that I was not participating in Miu’s activities, I was actually discouraging her out of worry for her safety.” 

“No one cares, Kii-boy! I disagree, and think that Miu was too focused on Monodam, and Keebs was too worried about Miu to notice Korekiyo sneaking past.” 

“Kirumi, did you happen to take note of when Kokichi entered the room?”  _Her answer to this is the proof I need to prove Korekiyo’s innocence._ Rantaro was sure of it. “Kokichi arrived at 5:06. I remember specifically as I happened to check the time to ensure I hadn’t burnt the food.”

“You were cooking food?” 

“Yes.. I had not had breakfast yet by this point.”

“Okay, we’re definitely discussing that later.” Rantaro frowned, crossing his arms. “Considering Kokichi was moving around the halls earlier in our possible timeframe of the murder, Korekiyo would’ve had a very small amount of time to commit the crime before Kokichi left.

“Even less than that, as I went to the bathroom before Kokichi was thrown out, and I didn’t see him either.” Tsumugi reminded him.

“So Korekiyo would’ve had to do it after Kokichi left, leaving him around six minutes before I found the body if Kirumi’s timing and the Monokuma file is right. Obviously he could’ve set up the shower and snuck past Miu and Keebo before Tsumugi and Kokichi left, but even in the main building he would’ve at minimum had to sneak past me in the classroom, mur—“ She flinched. “Go to the library, then walk past me again without me seeing, and return back to his room still sneaking past Miu and Keebo all within around five or six minutes.”

“Wait, who says he returned to his room?” Tenko cut in. “He had to have returned to his room because Ryoma saw him leaving the dorms after the body announcement.”

“That’s correct.” Ryoma nodded. “I didn’t mention it earlier because I thought he might’ve had the time to get back to his room. Clearly now however.”

“So it’s essentially impossible.” Kokichi agreed. “I’m glad you all figured that out! I knew it the entire time anyway. It’s time to move onto the real culprit of this case: you, Kaede.”

“M-Me?!” Kaede’s podium turned red and moved into the centre, and she froze. “Don’t be ridiculous!” Kaito yelled, slamming his fist on the podium. “I refuse to believe she would do that! Gonta and I saw her breaking down, that reaction can’t be faked!”

“Are you stupid?” Maki questioned. “You can’t deny the evidence. Blind belief will get us all killed.” 

“Kokichi! You saw me in the classroom when you ran out of the room! It’s the same argument with Korekiyo.”

“Nuh-uh, Korekiyo would’ve had way more to do to get to the library. You only had to walk downstairs! Oh, and I never saw you. That’s pretty important I think.”

“What? Kokichi, our eyes met. You saw me. Don’t lie! Not now!”

“While Kokichi does commonly lie,” Korekiyo pulled his cap down. “His account is something we need to consider.” 

“It does seem pretty suspicious that Kaede was found with the body. What if she’d killed him and then just pretended to be crying over the body?”  _ Tsumugi? How could you accuse me like this. . ?  _ Kaede felt her vision going black. 

“Don’t look at me like I’m the bad guy, Kaede. I want to believe in you, but you have to prove it.”

“Atua says Kaede is the most suspicious!”

“Enough! There’s no way she would have done that! Not to Shuichi!” Kaito glanced over to the portrait next to him, sighing deeply.

“As much as I’d like to disagree, it is definitely a possibility. Please defend yourself, Kaede.” The maid requested.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Does this count as a confession?” 

“Tsumugi, enough. Kaede, you have to be strong.” Rantaro turned to her. “You can do this.”

She rubbed her eyes. “Okay. I’m ready, I can do this. I think I have my defence. Gonta, how long after you going into the AV room did you see the fight?”

“Gonta thinks it was maybe a few minutes.”

“Admittedly we don’t have the exact times, but Kokichi would’ve been thrown out around the same time the crime was happening right? So him seeing me would be proof it wasn’t me, if he’d just admit it!”

“Wow Kaede, that is a terrible argument. You don’t have the specific times! You can’t be sure the crime was happening when I saw you! Gonta’s not even sure when he saw the crime! Fortunately for you, I did see you.. but you’re not the only one I saw! I know who the culprit is, and it wasn’t Kaede or Korekiyo!”

“You what!? Who?” Tsumugi slammed her fists down, suddenly seeming a lot more nervous. “I won’t tell! I’ve still gotta prove it first?”

“How do you even know?” Rantaro narrowed his eyes, unsure if Kokichi could be trusted. “The culprit was being pretty noisy, so I just peeked through the library door! This also proves Kaede’s innocence, so hooray for her! You owe me your life now!

“If you knew it wasn’t me, why did you accuse me in the first place?”

“For fun!”

“How do we know you aren’t lying? Atua is untrustworthy of everything you say!” 

“I’ve said all I can, you’ll have to decide if I’m telling the truth or not! Dad, take a long look at all the evidence. There’s a little bit of evidence we haven’t covered that’ll start up to unravel everything!” Rantaro opened his monopad as Kokichi monologued. None of the evidence, the accounts or the alibis stood out to him. Except... “Gonta.”

“Huhhh?” Gonta’s head quickly swiveled. “You saw Shuichi’s body right? You told me you heard some mechanical noises and the bookshelf move before that, can you explain that for everyone?”  _C’mon Gonta.. I need someone else to mention the hidden door._

“Gonta will try his hardest, Gonta needs time to think.”

“How long will it take you?” Himiko spoke for the first time. “Only a little while, Gonta would like to make sure he’s correct.” 

“I’m not waiting for you, jackass!” Miu interrupted, silencing Himiko’s response. “Gonta is sorry, Gonta thinks he’s ready now.”

“Then get on with it!” The inventor demanded. “Gonta didn’t understand it when he first heard noises, but Gonta think he gets it now! Gonta heard a really quiet noise, mechanical sounding! Fortunately Gonta has excellent hearing! Then Gonta think he heard struggle and something smashing. When Gonta was looking, he saw a bookshelf blocking it that hid the fight. Somehow bookshelf moved back, and Gonta could see Shuichi lying by the side.”

“Sorry Gonta, but could you get to the point? It’s just that Monokuma is starting to look impatient.” Keebo motioned to the biggest bear, who was slowly starting to yawn. “Sorry! Gonta think that whoever attacked Shuichi somehow appeared from behind bookshelf! He saw bookshelf somehow move on it’s own!”

“Which would explain the mechanical noises.” The mechanical student agreed. “So it was Monokuma?” Kirumi asked, thinking back to him randomly appearing from under a bed. “He does have a tendency to suddenly appear after all.” 

“This is all nonsense! Sorry Gonta but I don’t believe you have anything to go off there.” Tsumugi sympathetically smiled. “No.. Gonta is right.” Something clicked inside Kaede’s head. “There’s a hidden door behind that bookcase. That’s why Shuichi suggested the cameras.”

“Right! We haven’t even considered why the culprit smashed those...” It clicked in Rantaro’s head as well. Kokichi internally cheered. “Kaede’s right! There’s a secret door. I found it the other day!”

“A secret door? That’s kinda suspicious Kokichi, why would you know about that?”  _Tsumugi’s the one acting suspicious if you ask me.._ “I’ve found it too.” Rantaro carefully admitted.  _Not that I can explain why, of course.._ “Gonta, you mentioned a mechanical noise. I think you’re onto something.” 

“So the culprit found the hidden room, went in and then came out and killed him?” Ryoma furrowed his eyebrows. “It’s not that simple. The secret door has a card reader slot, not everyone can just enter.” The survivor was determined. He was so close to finding the culprit, he could feel it. 

“So who has the key card?” 

“Evidence would suggest that it was the mastermind, right?”

“I see.” Korekiyo nodded. “That explains how they took my knife. Whoever the mastermind is would have the Monokubs and Monokuma under their control, right?”

“And Monokuma claims to have tunnels into every room...” Kirumi looked over to the now sweating bear. “So that’s how they took the knife.”

“Isn’t this a little insane? If the mastermind did all of this,” Tsumugi motioned to everything. “Then why would they kill someone immediately?”

“Maybe they wanted Shuichi out of the way? He is the ultimate detective after all.” Ryoma pulled his hat down. “And they were going to frame me for the crime...” The Anthologist pulled his mask up further. “How fortunate I am to have others alibis and Kokichi’s word to save me, no matter how shaky of a defence he is.” 

“This is great and all, but who exactly is the mastermind? It’s not getting us any closer to the culprit.” Keebo frowned. “Good thing I know!” The Supreme Leader grinned. “Then who is it?” 

“Don’t worry, you’re all getting pretty close. There’s an alibi for you all to think about! It’s all about belief, right Kaito?” He teased. “C’mon Dad. I’m sure you can figure this out.”

Rantaro looked around.  One of these people’s alibis is flawed , but who?

**Choose A Culprit!**


	4. Class Trial II

“I think Tsumugi’s alibi is flawed.” Rantaro answered after several minutes. “How? People saw me in the meeting and then I was seen in the dining hall!”

“Kirumi, do you know when Tsumugi came to the dining hall?”

“Well, Kokichi came in at six past as established, and he wanted something to drink and I remember Tsumugi coming in just as I was serving it. It would’ve taken me 2 minutes and 25 seconds to boil the kettle, so around 9 past if I factor in the talk I had with Kokichi before he asked. Before I made his drink I wanted to know why he was crying, but of course that just led to him messing with me.” 

“Tsumugi, you left before both Gonta went to the AV room and Kokichi left, yet you still came into the dining hall several minutes after him. Admittedly you may have actually gone to the bathroom, but that still leaves most of the possible murder’s timeframe where you weren’t seen.”

“No, that’s wrong!” Kaede shook her head. “Sorry, but you’re forgetting I saw Tsumugi walk past my door a couple of minutes before Kokichi did. She had to have actually gone to the bathroom.”

Maki sighed and turned away from the rest. “That means every single one of us has an alibi. We’ve gotten nowhere.”

“Kokichi!” Kokichi acted like he barely heard Keebo, but looked over begrudgingly. “Our only lead is now who you saw committing the crime! You just answer!”

“Nee-Heehee.... I must admit, I’m really sad the culprit didn’t admit it, but fine! It was Tsumugi!”

“What? Gonta thought Tsumugi has an alibi?” 

“Her alibi is only that Kaede saw her before me. She still could’ve done it. The answer should be obvious to you! Say it quickly before I take away your cool moment!

“...”  _ Answer should be obvious to me?  _ He clapped his hands together.  _ Focus. Deal with him later.  _ The boy thought about it for around five minutes as others shouted their own theories about how she snuck past Kaede. Eventually, as his mind drifted back to his past, it hit him. “So, have you thought of anything?” Kokichi once again asked. “What if Tsumugi did go to the bathroom?”

“Where is this going? Are you being a pervert?” Tenko questioned. 

“One time, I went on holiday with my sister to tour castles. One of them was famous because a king was imprisoned during a coup there. The Earl who organised this coup was in this incredibly secure room in the same castle with hundreds of soldiers protecting him. He was still assassinated though, by a commoner who supported the king. He’d happened to be told about a secret passage by the castle’s architect when they’d gone out drinking. It’s actually a fascinating story that shows that no matter how much you try, you’re never truly safe—“

“Okay, we get the point.” The supreme leader interrupted. “He’s right though, there has to be a secret passage. There’s no other possible explanation for how Kaede saw her walk past but I saw her killing Shuichi afterwards.”

“That’s a sweet story Rantaro, but you don’t have any evidence of a secret room, nor do you have any evidence that I’ve used one.”  She’s right.  “I don’t have any direct evidence, but it’s the only possible explanation. The hidden door had to have been used, Gonta saw and heard it happen. You must’ve used a secret passage at some point, because Kaede only saw you, yet Kokichi claims to have then seen you murdering Shuichi. Not to mention, you’re the only one who could’ve done it.”

“No, that’s wrong! Kaede has no alibi! The only thing defending her is Kaito and Gonta’s belief and Kokichi’s word.” Attention was again turned back to Kaede as Tsumugi turned the tables. “You make a good point, but I’m not lying. My word is fact.”

“But that in itself could’ve been a lie!” The cosplayer was refusing to be backed into a corner, attacking Kaede with every angle she had. “Monokuma!” Kaede turned to face the slowly awakening bare. “Huh? Whaddya want?” 

“Let us go search for a hidden passage!”

“Sorry, no one is allowed to leave the trial grounds at anytime!”

“Okay, this is a pointless argument, and I’m getting really bored.” The supreme leader was resting his head on one hand, staring at his nails. “Gonta and I both saw the crime, yet I saw Kaede afterwards. There’s not enough time for her to have gone back to the classroom because I took a quick look and then instantly went for the dining hall. You’re the only one who would’ve had the time to kill him. Admit it already!” Kokichi’s regular personality returned, and he beamed at the cosplayer.

“How can this be happening..” Tsumugi muttered to herself, not that anyone else heard. “We have enough, right? Let’s just vote.” The cosplayer shivered under Maki’s glares. “Isn’t that a bit risky? We don’t have a confession.” 

  
“We don’t need a confession. Everyone else has solid alibis.”

“I’m still a little unsure about Kaede’s innocence...” Korekiyo admitted. “Okay! That’s enough. I’m officially bored, this is going on for way too long! Trust Kaede or don’t, either way you’re voting. Oh, and if you don’t, I’ll kill you anyway!” Monokuma hit a large button, and the screens on the podiums turned on.

“I find it pretty telling how hard Tsumugi has been pressing Kaede.” Ryoma  pressed Tsumugi without hesitation, being joined by Rantaro.

After a couple minutes, a screen came out from the ceiling. 14 votes for Tsumugi. 1 for Kaede. “Looks like everyone had faith in you, Kaede.” Monokuma sighed. “Oh well, anything you’d like to say, Tsumugi?”

“I can’t believe it..... this despair! It’s overwhelming!” She dropped to her knees, clutching her chest tightly as everyone watched. “I’ll be honest, this has never happened before.” Monokuma admitted, resting his head on his hand. 

“If the mastermind is done, are we all free?” The child caregiver questioned. “Of course not. I’m just gonna pick a new mastermind, that’s all. Don’t worry everyone! The killing game will continue! Now save the questions for later! It’s time for an execution!”

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to have to execute Tsumugi yet, if at all, so let’s improvise!” Monokuma’s voice was barely registered as they watched a large claw come down from the ceiling and grab the culprit by her throat. No one tried to save her. She was thrown into a dark room. Slowly, machines whirled to life and the lights turned on around her. 

** Tsumugi Shirogane’s Ultimate Execution: Crushed! **

The walls slowly started to enclose on her, and the five Monokubs appeared above. They threw in stacks and stacks of newspapers on top of her, all which read something a long the lines of: Tsumugi Shirogane ruined the world’s favourite entertainment! Was it worth it? More and more were thrown in until only her hand, which was desperately begging for help from the monokubs was showing. A match appeared from the sky, burning her hand and setting the paper’s alight. Her screams were scorched into everyone’s memory. Suddenly, the walls immediately closed in on her. The screen went dark. 

All five Monokubs returned, with Monotaro carrying a gift for his father. “My son, you’ve made me so happy! I’ve always wanted to change the way I look!” He proudly displayed his present for the students to see. The label read: Tsumugi Shirogane’s handmade makeup collection! Made with her blood, sweat and bones! Once Monokuma opened the case, it was very clear the label was literal. “This is sickening. I can’t look.” Most of the class very clearly agreed with Kaede, though not all of them. “I find it oddly fascinating. How were you able to produce this from the remains?”

“It was easy!” Monotaro excitedly answered. “I just had to smush all of the—“

“Do not answer that!” Rantaro cut in, dragging Korekiyo to the elevator. “Everyone in quickly, before we have to find out more!” The remaining class rushed into the elevator, and it began its ascent soon after. The only sound was the elevator as each student had their own internal debates about what had just happened. Outside, it had predictably gone dark and many students instantly went to bed. Rantaro was planning to be one of those students, as he was exhausted. “Hey, Amami. Look over there.” Kaito turned his attention to Kaede, sitting in the courtyard. “I think we should talk to her.”

“Why just me? I’m no good at comforting people. I’ll only make her feel worse.”

“Cause you’re my sidekick!”

“Your what?”

“That’s right, I chose you! I have many sidekicks, but you should feel blessed to be the first here!”

“Why me though? We barely know each other.”

“Well..” He looked over to the girl again. “To be honest, I’m planning on making Kaede my sidekick as well. I thought she’d be more comfortable with it if you were there too. You two seem to get a long, and I just know if we leave her alone she’s going to blame herself for Shuichi. It was horrible finding them, y’know. Her face is burned into my memory forever.”

“I understand..” Kaito was staring directly at him now, gripping his shoulders. It was clear how serious he was. Rantaro looked over to Kaede again. “We’re too late.”

“What?” Kaito’s face went pale when he saw. “Kokichi! Get away!” He ran at the shortest boy at fall speed. Unfortunately, Kokichi slipped out the way and tripped him up, making Kaede burst out in laughter. 

  
_Maybe being here isn’t so bad.. makes me wonder how long I can keep it a secret though.._ The perk pad seemed to be burning a hole in his pocket. “Night Kaito! Seems like you got this!” The astronaut didn’t seem to even hear.

He walked into his room and seemingly coincidentally, the perk pad dinged.  Perk pad updated!  It read in bold letters.  _New feature: The Motive Privilege!_

_Dear Rantaro,_

_This is the next of your survivor perks. The mastermind has chosen to allow you to have a preview of the motives, and even influence them if the mastermind chooses. Monokuma said he wouldn’t make it that easy however, so please be prepared for unforeseen consequences. One of these is apparently going to happen every trial, though I don’t know what the others are yet. Otherwise, I hope you’re doing okay. I’m sure you’ve made it this far, if only I could find out what the results of the first trial were! It’s a strange feeling writing to myself like this, not knowing what kind of mindset I’ll be in when I read it. Now, I’m sure you remember what I told you, but just in case: the mastermind is one of the 16 of you. I’m sure you’ll receive more of my letters soon, so I’ll speak with you then._

_Rantaro Amami_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, those are the four chapters I have fully written so far. I have a storyboard of the entire story so far, but I’m worried I’m not pulling it off well so any feedback’s appreciated. Hope you enjoyed! This class trial was a pain to write.


	5. Daily Life I

The new perk didn’t seem to make much sense. It displayed the fourteen remaining students, and a body of blacked out text below each of their names. Aside from his, which simply said:  _ Rantaro Amami is the Ultimate Survivor. The mastermind has provided him with a perk pad.  _ He was dragged from his thoughts by Monokuma, who had just walked into the room despite Rantaro being sure he’d locked the door.

“Hey! How’s the new perk?”

“I don’t understand what it means. How is this a perk?” 

Monokuma scowled and grabbed the perk. “You were supposed to write a letter explaining that! It’s like you’re trying to waste the title we gave you! Grrr.... fine! I’ll have to save the day! As you can see, your biggest secret is written here. If all this black stuff was gone, you’d be looking at every single person’s biggest secret! In a couple days, each person is going to receive a secret belonging to someone else. The perk Tsumugi had written for you was meant to be for a different motive, but the mastermind decided it still translates here. You get to pick who your secret goes to!” 

“So you’ve chosen a new mastermind..”

“That’s right! They were very eager to get started as well! I can’t say much, but I think their new motive will be very effective for what it’s meant to achieve! Just tap the photo of whoever you want to get your secret! See you soon!” 

Monokuma ran out of the room again, and Rantaro looked back down at the portraits. He ruled out about half of the class instantly due to barely knowing them, not trusting them or not wanting them to worry. That left him with five. 

_ Kaito would be the most obvious choice.. he made me his sidekick yesterday, though I have no clue what that really means yet. Hopefully I can find out today. I think that at least shows he trusts me, but he would probably encourage me to tell everyone. _

_ Kaede is a leader, and most people trust her. I don’t believe she would be okay with me hiding something so big from everyone though, and I’m not even sure where I stand with her. _

_ Korekiyo helped with the investigation and trial, but after the end of the trial.... he’s not someone I really want to be near.  _

_ That leaves Kokichi. He was the only reason we won the trial, but I can’t think of a worse idea. He wants to win the killing game and he’ll probably just use it against me. _

He was interrupted again by another person entering his room. “If you’re looking for your Dad, you just missed him.” Monodam stayed silent, staring directly at Rantaro. “Okay, well I’m going to go get breakfast. Stay as long as you want.”

“THE-PERK-PAD. GIVE-IT-TO-ME.”

“What ? No, this is mine. I apparently have a right to it, remember? Monokuma won’t be happy if he finds you stealing it.”

“HE-WILL-NOT-BE-IN-CHARGE-FOR-MUCH-LONGER. THE-PERK-PAD-IS-STOPPING-EVERYONE-FROM-GETTING ALONG. YOU-ARE-STOPPING-EVERYONE-FROM-BEING-EQUAL. GIVE-IT-TO-ME.”

“You have no rule saying you can take it from me. There’s also no rule stopping me from destroying you, either. Get out of here.” Monodam stared for a few more seconds before leaving silently. Rantaro tucked the pad in his pocket and quickly walked to the dining hall, wanting witnesses to be around just in case.

He took the seat as far away from Korekiyo as he could, who was quietly eating like he didn’t notice the stares. 

“Amami! Save the seat!” He nodded in response and begrudgingly put his arm on the chair on his right, despite everyone else already being sat down. “Thanks! I knew you’d be the perfect sidekick!”

“You didn’t pick me just for this, right?”

“Of course not! You can save me seats at dinner too!” Kaito grinned, digging into his plates of food. “I’m just kidding, of course. You’ll do much more than that! Firstly, I need your help with Kaede. Sometimes people need to mourn, and at those times they need others to help them get through it. You’re gonna help me with that.”

“Why would you pick me? We’ve barely spoken.”

“I mean yeah, but honestly you’re my best bet. Everyone else here isn’t mature enough to handle it, or would push their own values the entire time. I mean, imagine Kokichi, Miu, Keebo, Angie or Gonta trying to talk someone through losing somebody. You’re essentially the only normal person left aside from Kaede and I.” 

Looking around, he knew he really couldn’t argue. No one else was exactly normal.

“That’s fair. I’ll help.”

“Awesome! In exchange, I will help you figure out your talent!”

“W-What?” Rantaro choked. “I don’t think that’s possible. They didn’t let me know for a reason, I doubt I would be able to remember without them.”

“Come on! Haven’t you seen the warehouse? There’s instruments, art supplies, sports equipment, anything you could imagine! I’m sure we could figure it out if we really tried.”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt to try.” He internally groaned, but still appreciated the thought. It would take forever to sort through everything in the warehouse for something that felt ultimately impossible, but at least he might find something useful as they did it.

“Good morning my prized students!” The headmaster fell from the ceiling and posed dramatically, ignoring the collective sighs and groans. “I hope you’re all well! I imagine some of you might be feeling a little down after yesterday, hmm?” He grinned, not so subtly turning to look at Kaede. “Anyway! I have a reward for all of you! Come bring the prizes kubs!”

“Rise and Shine Ursine!”

“Hope you’re all ready! It’s prizes time!” 

“Listen up!” Monosuke yelled, tossing four prizes in the air. “We’ve got these here fabulous prizes for youse! There’s a weird dragon gem, a ocarina, an ancient passport and some hexagonal crank from some old zombie game!”

“This is all junk! I love it! Bravo, bravo!” Monotaro cheered, catching the dragon’s gem and passing it to Kirumi.

“Catch this!” Monokid batted the ocarina with his guitar in the air, grinning when Kaito caught it.

“This is a passport to a non-existent country, but I hope it’s still useful!” Monophanie just managed to grab the passport, and handed it to Tenko.

“...” Monodam wordlessly gave the crank to Kokichi, and left without saying anything.

The other four kubs stayed. “Father...” Their red leader began, starting to sweat. “We’re a little concerned about Monodam... do you think you could send him away or something?”

“Send him away!? He’s the only one of you who know how to take an order!”

“Sorry father! We won’t ask again!” The remaining Monokubs all said in sync, running out.

“Kids, right?” Monokuma smirked at Kaito. 

“The hell do you mean by that? And what’s the point in all this random crap?”

“Who knows? Maybe they can be used in ways you aren’t thinking of? Have a look around and see if you can solve the puzzle!” The headmaster skipped out the door, leaving the students bemused.

“Okay! Let’s take a look around! You never know, we might find a way out!” Kaito quickly grabbed Rantaro and dragged him over to Kaede. “These two are with me! There’s 11 of you left, so you could split into two fours and another three. We’ll all meet in the gym once we’re done exploring, got it?”

“10 of you.” Maki purposely shoved past Kokichi and left the room. Kaito shrugged and walked his sidekicks out of the room.

“Ow... that was just unnecessary.. Gonta! Help me! You too Keebo!” Gonta quickly ran over to help his friend, whereas Keebo stayed seated and was clearly hoping someone else would volunteer. 

“If I have to.. as long as you don’t talk about me being a robot the entire time.” The robot muttered as he slowly followed Kokichi and Gonta out of the hall.

“Okay, Himiko! Please assist me in finding the solution!” The Neo-Aikido master demanded, grabbing the smallest girl’s arm.

“Nyeh... does anyone else want to come?” Himiko looked around desperately, despite Tenko’s silent protests.

“Please allow Atua and I to come, Himiko!”

“I would also like to come... it’ll be better than being stuck with him anyway.” Miu didn’t say who, but everyone knew she was talking about Korekiyo. He made no reaction, continuing to silently watch.

“That’s nice of you both, but I really think Himiko and I can handle this—“

“No, it’s okay... I think we need them. They have strong auras I can draw from...” Tenko’s disappointment was obvious, but she nodded and led the three out of the room. 

“I suppose that leaves us then.” Kirumi smiled politely to Ryoma and Korekiyo, two of the people she’d been hoping to avoid. 

“Indeed. An odd parade for sure, but I’m confident we will accomplish our task.” 

“Let’s get going.” Ryoma sighed, walking out with little care as to if they followed or not.

——————

Rantaro was really regretting turning down music lessons from his sister all those years ago. “C’mon! It’s so simple!” Outside of a door covered with some vines was a short tune which Rantaro was attempting to play with the Ocarina.

“If it’s so simple, you do it!” 

“Nah... my windpipes aren’t so great, y’know?” It was a weak excuse, but Rantaro sighed and continued trying.

After a couple more attempts, he gave up. “Can you please do it Kaede?”

“I don’t think so... watching you try is just too good.” She was smiling for the first time that day, so he couldn’t exactly stop it it was making her feel better.

“Fine, I can do this.. it’s just a simple song.” Focusing on it more than anything else he’d ever done, he slowly got out the tune correctly. 

“I’ll be honest, I don’t think your talent is musical.” Kaito smiled sympathetically. Behind them, the vines covering the door started to slowly fall away and vanish into nothing. “Ha! I knew it! Come on!”

From the second they walked in, the smell of chlorine hit them hard. “A pool! This is perfect, I’ve been wanting to train in water!” 

“It’s pretty shallow though.. I don’t think’s even enough to go underwater.” Kaito ignored Kaede, and ran into the side room. He came out shortly after, showing them a massive box of pool toys.

Looking to his left, Rantaro noticed a sign that listed the pool rules. He quickly scanned the list, and only had one stand out to him. “Hey, listen to this! Apparently, if you go swimming in the night you’ll be breaking the rules now.” 

“Seriously!? Night time swimming is the best! Now we can’t do training in here!”

“What are you talking about? You never asked me to train.”

“Haven’t I already mentioned? Every night, both of you are joining me in the courtyard for training! It’s standard astronaut protocol!”

”I don’t need to train, I’m good with my body as it is.” The astronaut shrugged off Kaede’s complaint. 

“Listen up! A sound body is a sound mind, so you’re coming! Focusing on a goal will get you through anything!”

——————

Kokichi attached the crank to the wall with a click, and watched as Gonta opened the door. “Thanks Gonta! Couldn’t have done it without you!” 

“You could’ve easily done that.” The robot whispered as they walked down the stairs. “Why did you make him?”

“For fun!” The supreme leader lied. “Plus, my arms really hurt recently, I can’t have myself injuring them further.”

“Do you want me to diagnose you? I have a extensive knowledge of medicine and a built in x-ray in my eyes.”

“I’m good!” _ That will definitely be useful.  _ Kokichi internally noted. “So, what else can your eyes do?”

“I have scanners in my eyes that can explain anything in the modern world to me. For example, they can identify any animal or plant, and their variations! However perhaps it wasn’t fully completed, because I have no idea what this could be. Do you?”

Keebo was looking at a bright pink building, with a sign that read ‘Love Hotel’ in big letters. “Oh I do, it’s so incredible that I can’t even explain it with words! Hey, I think you should invite Miu in here! Trust me, she’d love it.” 

“I imagine you may be right, but costs some of Monokuma’s coins. Do you have any I can use?”

“Sorry Keebs, I spent all of mine already on some important stuff. I bet you’ll be able to find enough easily though, they’re everywhere.”

“I’ll start keep an eye out. We should probably go find where Gonta went.” The two walked towards the other building and found Gonta inside, frantically using a slot machine over and over. “This is a casino? None of us are old enough to gamble.”

“Oh Keebs, we’re trapped in a killing game and that’s what you’re worried about? You’d be able to get the coins easily in here I bet!” 

“Please join Gonta! Gonta has already won ten thousand!”

“No, thank you. You never really win at a casino, and I doubt one run by Monokuma would be any different.”

“Aww.. you’re no fun sometimes, you know?” Kokichi pouted, but was quickly distracted. “Look at some of these prizes! There’s even a key to a room at the love hotel in here! You have to try! Come on! I’ll bug you if you say no!”

“Fine, I guess a couple tries couldn’t hurt.” Keebo reluctantly agreed, sitting next to Gonta who gave him a handful of chips. “If you really think this love hotel is such a good idea, you’re going to have to explain to me what it is before I actually ask Miu though.”

“I’ll try! You’re gonna love it, I promise. So, tell me more about what you can do!” 

——————

“See? I told you I knew where this went!” Miu proudly watched as the wall collapsed, expecting the other girls to finally acknowledge her genius.

“It must’ve been my magic..” Himiko muttered, walking down the hall.

“What? But you saw! I put in the thing and it broke!”

“Maaaaaaagic...” 

“Your magic is so impressive Himiko! Atua is very impressed!” Angie and Tenko followed Himiko down the hall, leaving Miu in shock to catch up.

They had only revealed one room, which every girl knew must be Himiko’s lab as soon as they went inside. “These are tricks... where’s the equipment for the real magic?”

“Could you use this Himiko?” Tenko excitedly turned Himiko to the middle of the roof where a cauldron was sitting, filled with a green and bubbling liquid. “Maybe you could make some potions?”

“Yeah... maybe...” 

_ Jeez, Tenko really can’t take a hint.  _ Miu thought as she left the room. She walked all the way to her lab, needing to examine something she’d found inside Keebo.  _ Why the hell would he have that? _

———————

Kirumi placed the gem in the dragon’s mouth, and the statue collapsed along with the wall behind it, as Ryoma had suggested. Even one step inside made something very clear to her. “Nobody has been down this hall in a very long time.”

“You think?” Ryoma asked, not really caring about the answer.

“Definitely. That smell is a clear indication. I’ve had to clear out houses like this before.”

The maid pushed through the first door, and was immediately familiar with the decor. “I believe this may be my lab. It’s even been decorated how I would’ve done it.”

“You would’ve set up those dolls dressed in clothes?” Ryoma was standing next to 3 dolls sitting at a table, all in posh clothing. 

“Tch. How tasteless Monokuma is. They are meant to be mimicking my previous family, who I have now been forced to leave without a maid in my palace.”

“I’m sure that must be hard for them.” The tennis pro unsympathetically responded, turning to leave. “Wait, Korekiyo came in here with us, right?”

“He definitely did.” They walked outside, and Kirumi quickly rushed down the hall with Ryoma slowly following. 

The Anthropologist hadn’t gone far. He was only a little bit further around the corner, staring when his other two group members came up to him. “Kirumi, you look concerned. What’s wrong?”

“....I was a little worried, after yesterday’s—“

“Oh, I see. You incorrectly continue to stereotype me based on my personality, appearance and remote interest in the abnormal. If you all have seriously been so horrified by me simply taking an interest in Tsumugi’s remains, then you should be seriously concerned about what you might see in the future. Now, if you must know where I was, I heard somebody running past. I checked to see who it was, but I wasn’t fast enough.”

“I’m sure we’ll find them as time goes on. I’m sorry for assuming, Korekiyo.” The three came across what appeared to be The Ultimate Entomologist’s lab, judging by the pattern on the door. “If it’s okay with you two, I would rather not look inside.”

The tennis player nodded, clearly not interested in entering either. 

“Have a fear of bugs? How curious for a maid. Very well, I doubt that would be the key to an exit anyway.” Korekiyo walked over to a large chest near the door. “Do you think it’s safe?”

“Monokuma wants us to kill each other, I doubt he would set a trap this way.” Kirumi opened the chest and found an odd mechanical device inside. “Perhaps we should ask Miu to look over this?”

“No need! Your gorgeous headmaster is hear!” Monokuma climbed out of the chest with some effort, and proudly stood in front of the three. “What you’re holding there is a flashback light! It’ll give you a little bit of your memories back! Make sure you use it with everyone, because it’s only got a one time use, and what you’re going to see is very important!” His laughter could be heard all the way down the corridor.

“This is almost certainly a trap, right?” Ryoma asked, taking the flashback light to examine it.

“Considering the past glimpses of hope we’ve been provided with, pattern would certainly suggest this is something we should not use.”

“Even so, we should still tell everyone.” Kirumi cut in, feeling uneasy about where the conversation was heading.

“Are you sure? Not everyone may understand the consequences of this. I say we destroy it, hide the evidence and say nothing of it.” Korekiyo suggested, taking the flashback light into his own hands.

“I agree. I’m not so sure it would be safe for people like Kaito or Kaede to be aware of this. They tend to be blinded by hope like with that tunnel.” Ryoma nodded, leaving both of them to look at the maid.

“Even with how they would react, is it really okay for us to make this decision for everyone?” The maid took the light back just in case.

“Trust me, sometimes you have to do what you believe it takes to protect others, even if they don’t approve.” 

“Fine. Let’s at least do it in a place where I can easily dispose of it.” Kirumi took the light and walked them to her lab, where she promptly destroyed and disposed of the evidence.

They agreed not to tell anyone, but unfortunately someone else had been listening in the entire time.

“Now that we’ve dealt with that, let’s continue searching.” The group continued up the stairs, with no sign of anyone else.

“We’ve already been given access to three floors, yet Monokuma expects this game to continue until only 2 of us are left. It makes me wonder how large this school could really be.”

They entered the first door they saw, and were faced with Ryoma’s lab. “This lab is pointless. I’m not the ultimate tennis pro anymore. Let’s move on.”

“You aren’t even curious?” Korekiyo encouraged, interested in seeing the lab himself.

“There’s nothing for me to see here. Let’s move on.” 

The other two hesitantly followed Ryoma to the final door, which gave very little hint as to who’s it could be. 

“Any guesses?” Korekiyo asked just before he opened the door. The other two simply shrugged, so he went to turn the handle. “It appears something is blocking this door.”

“Maybe we need a different prize to get in here?” The maid suggested.

“I doubt that. There doesn’t appear to be any place to use an item like that. Someone must be inside.” Ryoma knocked on the door slowly and waited for a response, leaning against the wall.

“Go away.” Maki’s voice could faintly be heard.

“Is this your lab?” Korekiyo asked, trying the handle again.

“It is. Now go away.”

“You have no right to keep us out, anyone is allowed to visit any lab.” The anthropologist tried the handle again with much more force.

“I guarantee you won’t get in here. Now leave.”

“Maki, as a maid you must know I’m required to clean every room. Being allowed to see inside yours will make it much easier for me to prepare what I need to clean it.” Maki’s sigh was audible.

“It’s simple. You don’t clean this room. Bye.” She made it clear the conversation was over, so the group had no choice but to leave and head to the gym.

With everyone there except Maki and Miu, they all exchanged what they’d discovered and it was ultimately clear nobody had found anything remotely close to a way to escape. 

“There’s always next time!” Kaito encouraged, even if nobody wanted to hear it. Rantaro left the gym soon after, finally having some free time on his hands. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here’s the unlocking new areas chapter that every rewrite has. I usually find a lot of these to always be the same when I read rewrites, hopefully mine hasn’t fallen victim to that. I didn’t really like dedicating so much time to it but I couldn’t exactly skip over it either.
> 
> I really enjoyed writing the Korekiyo, Ryoma and Kirumi group, especially Korekiyo. I wasn’t expecting that at all, considering Korekiyo is my least favourite currently alive. I kinda like how he’s going though, and I had an idea with him and someone else I won’t say that I’m incredibly excited to do. I made all the other groups then realised I was left with these three, and at the time I thought I was fucked because these characters barely interacted. I think it went well though. Which groups went to which areas was completely random so that I didn’t show any bias (Though maybe that was a bad idea, Kaito’s group at the pool felt a little weird to write.)
> 
> I also gotta apologise for how long this took. I remember I told someone I would have the next chapter out in like two days, and it’s taken me eight lol. 
> 
> The next chapter should be out by the end of today, it’s the second half of this chapter but I just had to cut them in two so it wasn’t too long. That chapter will have two free time events (which I’m really proud of), a conversation with someone I’m sure you can guess and training. Because it was written with this, I only need to spell check it before it’s ready. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Daily Life II

With nothing to do until training at nighttime, Rantaro decided to look around the new areas. The casino wasn’t exactly his thing, and Himiko wasn’t very receptive to people interrupting her during practice so he ended up making his way to the third floor.

Inside the first door he found Kirumi, with a mountain of washing which appeared to be everyone’s, including his. “Hey, am I interrupting?”

“Oh, Rantaro! I didn’t notice you come in.” She was snapped out of the monotonous washing, relieved to have some sort of change. “Not at all, do you need me to do something?”

“I’m good, I was just looking around the new areas. How did you get my washing?” 

“The Monokubs didn’t want to do everyone’s washing, and as it’s my responsibility as a maid I made a deal with them for a 1 hour window where I’m allowed into everyone’s rooms to collect the washing under their supervision once a week.”

“That’s a lot of washing to do for one person...” The pile was about Rantaro’s height, and it filled a corner of the room. “Are you sure you’re not pushing yourself too much?”

“I’ll be fine. I admit it has been a larger workload then I’m used to, but I’m handling it.”

“How much have you had to eat today?” He asked, thinking back to what she’d admitted during the trial.

“I... I haven’t had a chance to eat yet. I should have some time in a few hours.”

“That’s not okay. C’mon, we’re going now.”

“Definitely not! I still have to get through this, leave the clothes outside everyone’s doors, clean the new areas, mop the floors, clean Kokichi’s room, cook—“

“Enough. You have to eat. Surely you have to realise how insane all of this is? Haven’t you heard that if you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of others?”

“I don’t believe that’s a real saying.” Kirumi sighed, folding up one of Kaede’s jumpers.

“Sure it is! My sisters would say it to me all the time. Now come on, you’ve got to eat. I’ll make you something, just come with me to the dining hall.”

“It’s disgraceful for a maid to be served by her own employers. I told you, I’ll get some food in a while.”

“We aren’t your employers, remember? You’re doing this all out of your own choice. Look, if you don’t go get food with me, I won’t let you do anymore work.” Rantaro went over and laid on top of the pile, covering as much of it as he could. 

“You know I can move you easily.”

“But you won’t. That would be potentially harming one of your employers, as you put it. Now come on, you’d be able to get through all this way quicker if you were energised.”

She sighed. “Fine, I’ll take five minutes.”

“10 minutes. You’ll feel worse if you rush.” Kirumi reluctantly followed him down to the dining hall, and sat down as he went into the kitchen. “What do you want to eat?”

“I could make it, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“You could make it sure, but you don’t have to. How about pancakes? My sisters always tell me mine are incredible.”

“......” She broke after a few seconds of silence. “That does sound good.”

“What would you like on top?” Rantaro served his infamous pancakes a few minutes later, and Kirumi had to admit his sisters were right. They were incredible. Even better than hers, but she wasn’t going to give him that. 

“You were right.” She admitted as she finished the last one. “I feel a lot better now.”

“I bet you’ll be able to do all that work much faster now. Keep in mind that if you don’t start taking care of yourself more, I’m going to come annoy you until you do anyway.”

“Fine, I will incorporate my own meals into my schedule.” Kirumi got up and moved to leave, giving a small thanks just before she shut the door.

Looking at the clock, he still had a few hours.  _ Now what am I supposed to do? Maybe it would be a good idea to just sleep until Kaito comes to get me. _

Walking outside, he saw Keebo alone in the courtyard. He was surrounded by tons of different objects from the warehouse, and was crossing them off on a list as he went.

“Hey, what are you up to?” He asked, taking a seat on the ground nearby.

“I’m trying to find my thing.” The robot replied, turning a new page over on his notebook.

“Your thing?”

“Like, my talent. Something I’m good at.”

“I thought you were the ultimate robot?”

Keebo sighed, throwing his pen down. “That’s not exactly a talent though, is it? Everyone else is here because of their own abilities. Angie is a great artist, Gonta knows everything to know about bugs, Kaede is a world renowned pianist. It makes me feel out of place. I’m only here because of Mr Idabashi’s skill in creating me.”

“I understand now. I can kind of relate, if it helps.” He responded.  _ I may know I’m the ultimate survivor, but something Monokuma said has been bothering me. _

_ “It’s like you’re trying to waste the title we gave you!” _

_ If they gave me the title of ultimate survivor, then do I really have any talent at all? _

“I guess you would understand more than anyone else. You still don’t know your talent?l

“I don’t think so. If we’re being honest I’m starting to feel a little like an imposter.”

“As am I!” Keebo’s face lit up. “I feel less like a peer to the rest of you, and more like an object for everyone’s entertainment! Kokichi made me realise that this morning. He was pestering me the whole time about everything my body could do. I realised the only thing people were finding interesting about me is what I am, not who I am. That’s what made me realise all this. I want to be known for something more than being someone else’s creation.”

“How many talents have you tried so far?”

“206. Including every variation of each talent I could think of in that number. Nothing so far. I’m approximately 7% through the warehouse’s contents.”

“Wow, is there really that much stuff in there?

”I was shocked too. The corridors felt endless.”

”That reminds me. Maybe you wouldn’t be interested, but Kaito said he would help me do the exact same thing. I bet he wouldn’t even hesitate to let you come along too.”

“You really wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not! I’d actually be grateful for more company. It’d be a lot more fun that way. It’s up to you completely though.”

“I think... that sounds like a lot of fun. When is it going to be?”

“I’ll see if Kaito’s free tomorrow evening, if you’re free then.”

“I think I should be. Has he spoken to you yet?”

“He?”

“Oh. If you don’t know yet, I can’t say anything. In the meantime, do you want to try some of the things I already have here?” Rantaro was a little taken back by the sudden change, but agreed and the two went through the rest of the object. Both of them ended up deducing they were definitely not a sculptor, writer or photographer.

The two parted ways after returning the objects, and Rantaro decided to head to the dining hall for some early dinner. Unfortunately, Kokichi was already inside. 

“Rantaro! I’m so glad you came to see me! I was looking for you!”

“What happened to calling me Dad?” He asked, quickly going into the kitchen to avoid eye contact.

“Meh, that got old quickly. It was for one of my plans, but that was back when I was trying to win the killing game.”

“You aren’t anymore?” Rantaro questioned, not feeling convinced. 

“Do you remember the trial yesterday?”

“How could I forget? Don’t dodge the question.”

“Could you be a pal and remind me of Tsumugi’s plan?”

Rantaro sighed. “She was going to frame Korekiyo for killing Shuichi.”

“Correct!” He added, running over to him in the kitchen. “Let’s do a hypothetical situation now. What do you think would’ve happened if we hadn’t trusted Korekiyo?”

“Well, he had a shaky alibi as it was so if we didn’t believe you we would’ve all voted him, and we’d all have been killed.”

“Nope, wrong! C’mon, think about it. Tsumugi was the mastermind, so why would she want to kill everyone at the first trial? She and Monokuma clearly set this up with the intentions of going on for way longer than one trial! Now with that in mind, what do you think would’ve happened?”

“Are you suggesting Korekiyo would’ve been executed and the game would’ve gone on?”

“Correct! I’m sure you know what that means, right? This isn’t a fair game.”

“And that’s why you don’t care about winning anymore?” 

“Right. Think about it. She purposely killed Shuichi, and tried to frame Korekiyo! Two fairly dangerous people considering their talents and personalities, right? Now, considering Monokuma is clearly fine with the mastermind framing people, what would stop the new mastermind from killing me, or you and then framing someone else?”

“Nothing.” Rantaro answered, finally turning to face Kokichi. “They could frame whoever they wanted and Monokuma would go along with it.”

“Which is exactly why I’m not trying to win the killing game anymore. Instead, I’m going to ruin it every single bit of it that I can out of spite. Starting with the next motive.”

“How?”

“You’ve met Monodam, right?” Rantaro froze.  _ Did Monodam tell him?  _ “He’s not integral to my plan or anything, I barely know him. What I do know, is that he for whatever reason, decided to tell me what tomorrow’s motive is. Oh, and a ton of stuff about the Monokubs planning to overthrow Monokuma and the Mastermind, but I didn’t listen to that.” 

“So what is tomorrow’s motive?” 

“Monokuma’s going to give us all another person’s worst secrets. It’s an effort to get us to split up as a group and all be paranoid of each other I’m pretty sure. It’s a smart plan, props to the mastermind.”

Rantaro attempted to feign surprise. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, there’s no way for us to stop anybody from watching their own videos. But say one of us is a serial killer, or some other horrible person! They’d do anything they could to get their secret back, maybe even murder! And vice versa, whoever found out that person was a horrible person might try and kill the horrible person! Fear is a powerful motivator, I should know. So, here’s how we’re going to cut the chances of murder in half.”

As it went on, Kokichi’s plan was turning out to be quite clever. Rantaro surprisingly found himself liking it. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re going to be one of the two people who works with me!”

“You seem pretty confident I’ll say yes.”

“Sure do! Because I know you will.” Kokichi grinned, and started to walk out of the room. “I’ll be outside your door tomorrow morning with the other person, okay? Be ready for us!”

Rantaro groaned and walked the opposite way out of the hall, heading to his room and falling on the bed. He really needed to rest his brain before Kaito made him do training. 

“Hey! Wake up!” The boy slowly sat up, turning to face Monokuma, who was somehow appearing from the bathroom. “We’re preparing the motives soon, so you have to decide who’s getting it now!”

“Fine, hold on.” He grabbed the pad and looked down at everyone’s portraits.  _ Is he really my best option? _

_ Surely not, right? _

_ But after earlier.. maybe picking someone who’s actively going against the mastermind is my best bet. _

His brain was screaming at him not to, but he slowly pressed the portrait of the last person he’d been expecting to pick that morning. 

“Oh wow. I really, really wasn’t expecting him. Alright! Whatever you want!” 

Monokuma ran off, and Rantaro stared down at the now locked in decision.

_ Rantaro Amami gives his secret to Kokichi Oma.  _

He shut his eyes and crawled under the blanket, wondering if he’d just made the best or worst decision of his life.

——————

When he finally opened his eyes again, somebody was hitting the doorbell as much as they could. Groaning, he stumbled over to the door, barely awake. 

“Hey! Where have you been? It’s nighttime! Ready to train?”

“Oh god, already?” 

“That’s right! Now c’mon, Kaede’s waiting!” Rantaro slowly followed the energised Kaito to the courtyard, where the other sidekick was sat on the grass looking equally exhausted. 

“Okay! First we need to warm up, so 50 push ups!”

“How is 50 just a warm up?” The pianist protested.

“Before you know it, 50 will feel like child’s play. You’ve both got this!”

Rantaro slowly began doing his first couple, eventually being joined by Kaede. It was easier than he’d expected, but by 20 he already felt close to passing out. “Kaito, why the hell aren’t you doing anything?!” 

Kaito shrugged, lying next to them. “I gotta make sure you’re doing them right first!”

“We are. It’s not hard to mess up a push up. It’s not fair if only we’re doing it!” Kaito groaned but eventually turned over and started, going much slower than either of his sidekicks. 

Rantaro eventually hit 50, and collapsed on the ground panting. “Man, you really don’t exercise much.” Kaito grinned mockingly.

“And how many are you on?” 

“12, but I started late!”

“We were only on like 10 when you started! Don’t make excuses.” Kaede scolded, reaching her 50 soon after. They both sat back to watch Kaito attempt to reach 50 for the next half an hour. His breathing was starting to get heavy, and he looked close to fainting by the end. 

“Okay! We did it! Got to cut it short! See ya!” Kaito spluttered, quickly running away to the dorms with more energy then he’d shown all evening.

“I thought that was just a warmup?” Kaede asked as they watched him run off.

The other two followed behind slowly a few minutes later, not noticing any of the small drops of blood their leader had left on the ground. 

When he got into his room, his entire shirt and hands were covered in the blood.  _This is getting worse quickly. I can’t die. Not here._

“YOU-STILL-HAVE-MY-OFFER.” Monodam appeared in the corner, staring through Kaito.

“And I’ve still got the same answer.”

“YOU-ONLY-HAVE-TO-DO-THE-ONE-THING-FOR-ME-AND-BE-HEALED.”

“Get out of here. I don’t need your help to survive!” Kaito threw a chair at Monodam, making him finally go to leave.

“YOU-WILL-NEED-ME-I-WILL-RETURN-SOON.”

The robot left, and Kaito cleaned himself up and threw his bloody clothes aside, collapsing in bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did finish proofreading this just before midnight, so there’s a chance I may have missed something. I’m going to go over it again tomorrow after I’ve had some sleep.
> 
> Sorry this was a little short, as I said in last chapter’s notes this was part of the previous chapter but I had to split them so it wouldn’t be too long. That’s also why they’re both across the same day, despite me trying to do a chapter for each day. 
> 
> For this chapter, I have two more daily lifes, one deadly and hopefully two class trial chapters to write. The next daily life will be out in a couple days, but after that I’m going to wait until I have all four of the remaining chapters finished to try and avoid plot holes or forgetting evidence. 
> 
> After that, I’m not sure if I’ll move on to chapter three or instead rewrite the first class trial from chapter 1. Those two chapters really aren’t my best work, and I feel I need to redo them at some point. Probably gonna do chapter 3 though, that’s when it starts to ramp up.
> 
> Another thing, the tags are only friendships currently. I am still doing relationships, (you can probably figure one out from this chapter) I just don’t want to tag it until it’s actually in the story. 
> 
> Hopefully people are gonna like the direction I’m taking Kokichi. Him ruining the killing game out of spite that it’s fixed is exactly what I feel he would’ve done had he known Tsumugi was Rantaro’s true killer in the real game. I’m not gonna suddenly turn him into a good person though, I still fully plan for him to be a complete asshole especially in the trials. It’s just that he’s a much bigger threat to the new mastermind now.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Daily Life III

Two of the Monokubs silently slipped into his room. 

“It’s finally time!” Monokid whispered, or at least tried.

“Keep it down. You’ll wake him.” Monosuke snapped, grabbing the bag from the other kub. “What does that list say we give him?”

“List says one of the less serious ones, I think at least. Mastermind wants him to be less trusting.”

“Like that’s gonna work. This dumbass trusts everyone. Reminds me of that other guy. You know who I mean, the hope guy.” Monosuke pulled out one marked less dangerous and left it on the table, slipping out the door with his brother.

“Man, what a thrill! That punk had no clue we were even there!” Monokid cheered as they walked across to the next room on their half of the list.

“Idiot! It’s like you want us to get caught. Make sure you shut up, because getting caught is an especially bad idea with this next guy.”

The two entered slowly, and Monokid quickly grabbed the pad. “Hell yeah! It’s finally time for the one the survivor picked!”

Kokichi stirred slightly from his sleep, making Monosuke hit his brother in anger.

“What the hell are you thinking?” The striped bear groaned at Monokid’s confused face. “Damn Monodam. Why isn’t he here doing this? He’d be perfect, never says a word. Where is he anyway?”

“He’s still preparing that plan of his. Feels like he’s finally lost it. Seems inevitable with Monotaro and Monophanie always bullying him.” Monokid walked out of Kokichi’s room, ticking another off his list. “Let’s get outta here! This room is creepin’ me out. We’ve only got one more anyway.”

“Who is it then?” Monosuke sighed, growing increasingly sick of his brother. 

“The big guy. Simple fellow. You know who I mean!”

“He’s over here. Let’s make this quick so I don’t have to look at you for a couple hours.”

——————

It had only been two days since the first murder, but Rantaro was feeling strangely hopeful for the future when he woke up that morning.

His room looked exactly like it always did, just with one obvious difference. Sitting on his table was another monopad, covered in the colours of the Monokubs.

Turning it on, he instantly heard a familiar voice.

_K1-B0’s secret video!_

_Keebo may act like he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but he’s actually hurt the one he cares about the most! He’s told you about Professor Idabashi, right?_

_One day, Keebo’s programming malfunctioned, turning him from a peaceful robot to a killing machine! He attacked his own creator, who_ _barely made it out alive and was left seriously injured!_

_Say... I wonder what’s stopping a malfunction like that from happening again?_

The screen cut and Rantaro was left only with his own reflection to stare at. 

_That can’t be real, right?_

_Either way, I can’t give in to paranoia._

He was interrupted by his door bell ringing, and he realised exactly who it must be. Outside his door were the two people he was dreading seeing the most, Kokichi and Keebo. 

Kokichi pushed his way inside and lay back on his bed, pulling out his secret and chucking it at it’s subject. “Very interesting watch Rantaro! I showed Keebo, by the way. I’m so flattered you would choose me to know about your secret! I wonder if that was wise....?”

“It’s not going to be a problem right?” Rantaro asked, pulling out the perk pad.

“Is that it? Let’s see!” Kokichi grabbed it, going through every inch of the map. “And it’s not a problem. This makes me even more sure you aren’t the mastermind. Plan is still on!”

“I have to ask.... “ Keebo whispered as Kokichi kept looking through the pad. “Our conversation about talents yesterday... was none of that genuine?”

Rantaro froze. “No, no it was! Monokuma said he gave me this title, so I don’t really know what my actual talent is, if I even have one.”

Keebo seemed to accept this, nodding and turning his attention to Kokichi who was finished with the pad, handing it back. “I loved the bit about the sisters, by the way.” The shortest boy added.

“Sisters? What are you talking about?”

“Well, along with the whole ultimate survivor thing, he talked about how one of your sisters conveniently goes missing every time you go on holiday with them! Pretty crazy stuff. Are you killing them, or just abandoning them?”

“What?! I’m not doing either! They just keep going missing!”

“Sure, sure.” Neither of the other boys looked convinced. “So! Do you two remember the plan?”

“Hold on, we can’t just walk past that! I’m not killing them!”

“I don’t know, it seems pretty suspicious that one happens to go missing every time your family goes on vacation.” 

“You have to admit there is a strong suggestion you may be doing something to them.” Keebo apologetically smiled. “Moving on, mine was very concerning. You two really have to see it.”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt to get two off the list early. Who’s is it?” Kokichi was holding a list with everyone’s names, barely readable with his awful handwriting. Only Rantaro’s was ticked so far.

“Just watch it.”

The screen came to life, and Monokuma’s voice started to play again.

_Angie Yonaga! The ultimate artist!_

_I’m sure you’ve heard of Angie’s god, Atua?_

_After a little research, it turns out Atua is actually no god! Atua is really the equivalent of the devil in Angie’s religion! She split off from the main religion and started her own cult around Atua, brainwashing all her followers! She runs it all on her own island, where she is treated like the only thing that matters. Angie has a tendency to successfully manipulate, blackmail and bully her followers and others around her into murder and even suicide! She’s responsible for the death of dozens!_

_Maybe you should keep an eye on her...?_

“I hadn’t expected someone so dangerous to be here...” The robot sighed, passing it to Kokichi.

“She might already be doing this.” Rantaro thought back to the day Shuichi died. “I remember I saw her holding a prayer circle. She was converting Himiko and Gonta.”

“It’ll probably be fine. There’s a good chance she’ll be dead soon anyway!” Kokichi’s normal self returned, and he threw the two secrets into his bag.

“Wait, I don’t think we should destroy that one. If she does manage to form a cult, then seeing this might stop it. Also, wasn’t the point of this to stop any murders?”

“That doesn’t count the mastermind! You think they’re gonna want a cult popping up in the middle of their killing game?”

“You’re right. If they’re willing to kill like Tsumugi was, that is.”Keebo acknowledged, still a little uncomfortable with being so friendly with Kokichi.

“I do agree though, we will save this one just in case. I have a safe in my room, I’ll lock it in there.” The Supreme Leader nodded, tossing it into his bag.

“How did you get a safe in your room?” 

“I had Gonta carry it in for me. I was originally gonna have him instead of one of you two, but he’s way too innocent. I don’t think he really understands the danger we’re in yet. Speaking of, can we see your video Rantaro?”

“Oh, right. Here it is.” He passed it to Kokichi, who excitedly turned it on. _He’s like a child sometimes...._

Keebo looked over the leader’s shoulder. “This is mine..” He realised. Kokichi watched the video in silence, his simile slowly fading. 

“Wow Keebs, to think I thought you were just some kitchen appliance.” 

“It was an accident. I’ve been regretting it every day of my life.” 

“Don’t worry, I understand. You’re not alone in hurting the ones you love. I had to kill my brother, y’know.”

“I appreciate you lying to make me feel better. But it’s not necessary.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” Kokichi smiled, tossing the video in with the rest. “Let’s get going! Remember, we need to spread out at breakfast. See if people have traded their secrets. Don’t forget, we’ll meet after breakfast to adjust the plan in case, okay? We need to get to the hall before everyone’s gone.” The smallest boy ran out, leaving the other two to catch up.

——————

The dining hall was full, with the three boys entering last. The only ones standing up were Himiko and Tenko, the second of which glared at the group.

“Everyone!” Tenko clapped her hands together, waiting for their silence. “Now that we’re all here... The incredible Himiko will be holding a magic show in two days time! Attendance is mandatory. If you don’t show up, I’ll have to drag you there myself! Especially if you’re a degenerate.”

“It’s not mandatory.. I just thought it might be fun. Nobody has to come..” Himiko protested, pulling her hat down. “Don’t force them.”

“Thank god it’s not mandatory, because that sounds terrible!” Kokichi beamed, sitting down in the corner. 

“How dare you be so disrespectful!?” The argument kept going, but Rantaro stopped listening. He chose to sit next to Kaito, with Himiko sitting on his left a little while later.

“So! You get a secret as well? Who’s is it?” Kaito asked as Kirumi served them.

“You know I can’t tell you that. It wouldn’t be fair on that person.”

“Right... mine wasn’t that interesting. It was something pretty obvious just by looking at them.” He nodded his head towards Himiko, who cautiously looked over.

“Are you trying to say you got mine?” She hesitantly asked.

“Sure did! But don’t worry. It’s nothing serious. Who’d you get?”

“I don’t think we should be so openly discussing this.” Rantaro cut in, noting that Kaito had his on him.

“I didn’t watch mine... I just gave it to Angie this morning.”

“Angie!?” Rantaro blurted out.

“Yes Rantaro? Do you need me?” Angie had always been a little intimidating, but after they watched that video he was looking at her in a whole new way.

“No, not at all!” He did his best to collect himself. “Sorry, I’m good.”

“If it’s okay, I need you. I’d like for you to share your video with me.”

“Uh, I think I’m good actually. I’ll keep it to myself.”

“You can’t withhold secrets from us. If it’s someone dangerous, we all deserve to know.” Angie’s tone and face were getting darker with every word. 

“Who says it’s something dangerous? It might be nothing.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way Rantaro. Everyone! Let’s put it to a vote! I believe we all need to share our secrets with everyone immediately!”

“People’s secrets could be anything. It might be something really embarrassing for them, and something that isn’t worth hating them over. We’d be making people outcasts.” Kaede countered, making Angie smile sickeningly at her.

“Oh, Kaede. Could it be your secret is something terrible?”

“I don’t have any secrets anywhere near that bad, it’s not just about me.”

“If you don’t have any secrets that bad, then you have nothing to fear. Standing up for potential monsters is a disgraceful act, but don’t worry. Atua will still forgive you. Now! Everyone, let’s put it to a vote! Raise your hand if you agree with me!”

No one’s hand raised at first. But eventually, Himiko raised her hand, which meant Tenko felt she had to raise her hand as well. Gonta also raised his hand, and was joined by Kirumi. To Rantaro’s surprise, Kaito’s hand also went up.

“Hmm. A little under half, if you count me in. Such a shame, but I’m confident that will change. By the end of the day, I’ll have the majority. Until then everyone!” Angie’s regular smile returned, and she walked out.

“Man, why’d you freak out? You feeling okay?” Kaito eventually asked.

“I’m fine. Just a little shaky after what I saw.” 

Breakfast was fairly uneventful after that, and the three partners met in the courtyard.

“Just to make sure you remember, tell me the plan again.”

The tallest boy sighed. “Of course I remember the plan. You’re going to get Gonta to gather everyone aside from us for a bugs meet and greet as you put it. Meanwhile, you’ll break into everyone’s rooms and search for the kub pads. Keebo and I will break into Miu’s lab and find the tools needed to destroy them. We both have to go because Keebo is the only one who knows the code, but he can’t lift some of the machines and tools. You’ll meet us there in Miu’s lab because of the lock, and then watch the videos and destroy them.”

“You actually got it! I’ll go convince Gonta, you’ve got 10 minutes to prepare.” Kokichi ran off again, leaving the other two to be faced with the guilt.

“It doesn’t feel good lying to Gonta.” Rantaro eventually sighed.

“No, it really doesn’t. I feel bad for breaking Miu’s trust as well. But it’s a necessary evil for the plan to work. Which I do believe it will. We will have to make it up to him later.”

“Good idea. Maybe we could bake him a cake? What do you think his favourite is?”

“Something sweet I imagine. Let’s be quick, hopefully she isn’t inside. I’m sorry I asked for you to come with me, but when you see how messy her lab is you’ll understand.”

——————

Miu’s lab was locked with a keypad that made a loud beep every time a button was pressed. Every beep made Rantaro more and more paranoid they’d be caught.

The lab being messy was an understatement. After only a week of use, papers were randomly piled on the floor, tools were lying everywhere and unfinished creations were covering the desks.

“We probably only need a saw or something, right? Could we use her big one?”

“Neither of us know how to control it, and we definitely shouldn’t let Kokichi try. We’ll need a variety of tools anyway, we have no clue how durable these are.”

“I’m sure it won’t be that hard to find what we need, she seems to have every tool in existence.” 

Their searching was interrupted by the keypad’s loud beep. “It’s Miu! You have to hide!”

“Can’t we just say you let me in?”

“She won’t like that! Hide!” Keebo ushered him behind a desk in the corner just as she pressed the final button.

“Keebs? What’re you doing in here?”

“Sorry! I was just looking for you and thought maybe you’d fallen asleep working again! W-Why are you dressed like that?!”

“What this? C’mon, you’ve seen more than this! There’s no need to act so innocent around me of all people.”

“I didn’t! I shut my eyes! And that was different, you’ve just walked in here like that! Are you streaking here of all places?!”

“Streaking? What do you take me for? I’m just doing this so Gonta won’t touch me. Why do you ask, is that something you’d be into—“

“Not at all! Look, I just wanted to tell you Kokichi’s in the gym right now with one of your inventions.”

“What?! Which one? What colour is it?”

“Well, it was bl—“

“Blue!?” Rantaro heard the sound of Miu frantically run out the door, slamming it.

“I was gonna say black...” He sighed. “You can come out now.”

“Thank god, it’s filthy down there. What was up with Miu? What was she wearing?”

“I’d rather not talk about it. Let’s just find the tools, okay?”

They eventually decided upon a hacksaw, sledgehammer and pickaxe. 

“Hey! Let me in!” Their partner impatiently banged on the door, getting louder and louder until Keebo opened it.

“How’d it go?” Rantaro asked, taking the bag from him.

“Pretty good. I got 10 out of 14. Counting ours that it is. Pretty good result I’d say! What did you two pick out?”

“Well, we got a—“

“Ooh! Look at that big saw! That’ll work!” Kokichi ran over excitedly and grabbed the remote, fiddling with every button and making the saw move wildly.

“We actually decided not to use that.” Keebo interrupted, taking the remote from him. “Only Miu knows how to use this, it’s not safe.”

“Aww really? Well, if you say so Keebs. Miu’s not going to interrupt us, right?”

“Hopefully not, though she did interrupt us earlier. If she does, I guess we’ll have to tell her what we’re doing so she doesn’t tell people. I sent her on a impossible task though, so we should be fine.” Keebo explained, pulling out the first of the videos. 

“Is that why she’s almost naked out there? Didn’t know you were so kinky Kii-boy!”

“She’s almost what?” 

“No! That’s unrelated. Let’s begin already, we have to do this quickly.” He put the first video on, and Monokuma’s familiar voice played.

_Ryoma Hoshi! The Ultimate Tennis Pro!_

_Unfortunately, this motive is still under construction. It seems like many aspects of his life, Ryoma has nothing in the secrets department! Similarly, he has absolutely nothing to live for. Maybe he would cooperate with your murder plot?_

“Okay, we’re not off to a great start there.” Kokichi ticked Ryoma’s name off, scribbling down some notes.

“Make sure you keep that list locked up, it will have all been pointless if you don’t.”

“Rantaro, do you take me for? Of course I will! I’ll do the next one!” Kokichi pulled another out, pressing play and setting it opposite them.

_Himiko Yumeno! The Ultimate Magician!_

_Did you know? Himiko Yumeno does not know magic! She is a complete fake, and only deals in cheap tricks!_

“Tch. Even I could’ve told you that. Another dud.” Kokichi tossed it with the other, and when he went to reach for another he suddenly couldn’t see them anymore.

“Did the power just go out?”

“It appears so. Allow me to use my eyes, they work as lights.”

“That’s too bright! Can’t you turn it down?” Keebo’s lights seemed to be burning into Rantaro’s eyes.

“No, unfortunately Miu insisted it was this bright.”

“God, what a waste of space she is. We need to go hide these in my safe, with no power I imagine the lock on her door will stop working. We’ll have to finish when it’s back.”

They rushed out the door, carrying every single one. Midway, the screens came to life alone. 

_Attention all students!_

_I, your beloved headmaster have some bad news. It appears my wonderful children are trying to overthrow me! No worries, I will have everything up and running in a matter of days but until then, I’m ordering everyone stay inside the dormitories or face execution by nighttime. You don’t have to stay in your room, use the collective space if you like but I can’t guarantee food being delivered, so you’ll have to gather some yourselves just in case._

“God, this keeps getting more complicated.” Kokichi winced. “Listen, I’ll go put these in my safe. You two grab as much food as you can, and we’ll hide in my room eating and watching the rest of these. Be quick okay?”

Kokichi sprinted to the dorms, practically breaking down his door and locking away the pads. Once they were safe and secure, he sat in the darkness waiting for his partners. 10 minutes passed. Soon, it was twenty. The wait was starting to make him worry. 

Peeking outside, he saw Angie forming a prayer circle with various people. He also saw Kaito, Kaede and surprisingly, Maki holding boxes of food.

By the time half an hour passed, he’d seen Himiko and Tenko carry in everything from the magician’s lab that would fit. Rantaro and Keebo finally returned a few minutes after. He removed the chain and let them in, taking a bag from the green haired boy. 

“What took you two so long? I thought you’d died!”

“You were worried?” Keebo asked, the surprise written all over his face.

“I mean, only a little. Mostly I was enjoying everyone else panicking.” Kokichi lied.

“Well, thanks for your concern. We took so long because Miu ran up to us as she realised I’d lied earlier. She forgave me, but she told me I had to come to her room tomorrow. She was moving her entire lab in there, so who knows what for.”

“Well, as long as you got food. Did you see any clue of what’s happening?”

“Nothing much, but we did see the blue exisal blocking the stairs and oddly the pink one blocking the bathrooms.”

“The bathrooms? Why would they block the bathrooms? Well, at least now you’re back, it’s time for me to go out. I’m going to quickly run and grab some light sources. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Kokichi ran out despite Keebo’s protests, leaving the other two in the dark. 

“Let’s see if anyone else has any clue of what’s happening outside, I doubt it but who knows. At least there’s Angie’s candle to give us a bit of light out there.” Rantaro suggested, leading them both out.

Taking a look around, Kokichi was now the only person not in the dormitories. Angie’s candle was lit in the centre, and was holding a prayer circle with Gonta, Himiko, Tenko and oddly Korekiyo. Maki, Kaede and Kaito were talking by the stairs, Ryoma and Kirumi were paired together by the doors, and Miu was trying to work on a machine to generate light.

“How long do you think this is going to last?” The robot sighed, sitting against Kokichi’s door. 

“I don’t know. Monokuma hasn’t told us what’s happening. Do you think this means the killing game is paused?”

“I doubt we’re that lucky.” 

“Let’s go see if Kaede’s group has any clue what’s happening, or at the very least Kaito will probably cheer us up.”

——————

“No. We don’t know what’s happening. Leave us alone.” Maki stared the two boys down, giving them an overwhelming instinct to run.

“Maki! He’s one of my sidekicks you know. You have to try and be kinder to your classmates!”

“Kaito, do you seriously trust him after he was clearly working with Kokichi earlier?”

“You don’t know that! Just because he wasn’t at the meet and greet means nothing, you weren’t either.”

“Yes, but that’s because I could overpower Gonta. Do you seriously think either of them could? Not to mention, they both just came out of Kokichi’s room. They were involved in stealing the motives.”

“Have a little faith! You weren’t involved, right?”

“....Yeah, we were.” Rantaro admitted. “But it was for a good cause!”

“Told you.” 

“Hold on. He said it was for a good cause!”

“Sure.”

“It was! We didn’t want the mastermind’s motive to have any effect.”

“And now that motive was replaced. You’ve accomplished nothing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you see? This is the next motive. I give it a day before he says we have to kill someone in order to not starve.”

“Maki, I think you’re being a bit dramatic. Monokuma’s announcement seemed frantic, and he ran off camera as it was ending. Clearly something’s actually happening.” Kaede argued.

“You’re seriously fooled by a little bit of acting? It’s like his second nature.”

“Hey guys! What’re you talking about?” Kokichi had returned, wearing night vision goggles and holding a couple bags. “Was it about how much you all need me in your lives?”

Maki wordlessly shoved past him, walking into her room and slamming the door. 

“Why does she hate me so much? That’s like the second time..” He passed the bags to his partners, who quickly opened them. “I got as many light sources as anyone could need.”

Kaito’s eyes widened. “You’re seriously still working with him?”

“Sorry. It’s not for much longer, we just have to finish up something.” Rantaro lied, carrying the bags into Kokichi’s room. 

“Just don’t let him manipulate you, got it?”

“Don’t be jealous, I’m still your sidekick.”

“Good! Now listen, training’s canceled for today but tomorrow is still on. I’ll come get you, so be awake at midnight alright?”

The trio walked back into the room, with the leader opening the safe. “Obviously we can’t destroy these anymore... we’ll have to keep them safe in here for now. Maybe tomorrow we can get some of Miu’s tools. Before we start, let’s discuss sleep shifts!”

“Is it really that serious? It’s just a power cut, right?” Rantaro asked, starting to sort through the food.

“Monokuma said this would last a couple days. We’re sitting on top of 10 of the 14 secrets. If people figure out we still have them, they might do something drastic and try to break in.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Keebo conceded. “I’ll take the first shift. I can stay awake for a lot longer without rest after all.”

Next came the nighttime announcement, which was different from usual. 

_Hey there! Monotaro here! It’s time to go to sleep, okay?_

_We’re a little busy over here, but we promise to keep you all safe in this turbulent time! Just to be clear, the killing game is still on. We have bigger fish to fry however, so we’d really appreciate if you guys took a little break from killing. See you tomorrow morning, alright?_

“Well, with that over... let’s get started! We’ve got eight motives to go, and I’d really love to get some sleep before my shift. I’ll do the one after you Keebo, alright?”

They each settled down into various corners of the room, and began to start what would be a very long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was really struggling on what I should do for chapter 2. 3,4 and 5 aren’t gonna be a problem, I’ve got all of that already planned out. This one is harder though, so I decided I wanted to something very different from the regular game instead of my version of the regular game’s events, which is what this chapter would’ve originally been.
> 
> Hopefully the next victim isn’t too obvious.
> 
> Next chapter in a couple days maybe?
> 
> Oh and if you saw any mistakes, definitely let me know as I’ll happily correct anything you see.


	8. Daily Life IV

“There, I think that should be good.” Kokichi happily said, admiring his handiwork. He’d set up oil lamps in each corner of his room, which while they only lit up a small amount of space, it was better than nothing. “Now that’s sorted, let’s begin!”

“Before we do the videos, shouldn’t we discuss our situation?” Keebo asked from the bed. “And why did you insist I have the bed? Comfort isn’t as important for me compared to you two.”

“What situation?” The smallest boy asked.

“You know what I mean. All this.” Keebo spread out his arms for emphasis. “The black out, and wether Maki’s right.”

“Oh, right. I know the answer, but I don’t think I’ll be sharing it! We’ll find out together!” 

The robot sighed. “I had hoped we were past your games.”

“Not yet!” He went to unlock his safe, pulling out the bag. “Let’s get going with these now, before anything else happens.”

“Fine, I guess it’s probably time. Especially as I could do with getting some sleep soon.” Rantaro admitted, moving to lie across the sofa.

Kokichi set up the first one in the corner, pressing play and running back to his seat.

_ Kirumi Tojo! The Ultimate Maid! _

_ Did you know? Kirumi was so renowned in her career that she ended up being promoted to the highest job possible: Prime minister of the entire country!  _

The screen cut to show her conversing with a man they all recognised as who they thought the actual prime minister was. 

_ Of course, she had to run things from behind the scenes as she was so young but she was essentially the prime minister in every way but officially! _

_ Say... I bet someone with that kind of reach could’ve organised this... _

“There we go! Finally one that’s actually interesting! Thoughts, you two?” The Leader asked while he replaced the video.

“If this video is telling the truth,” Keebo started, thinking his next words over carefully. “Then Kirumi Tojo must now naturally be our biggest suspect for who’s running this.”

“Not necessarily.” Rantaro argued. “Tsumugi was the mastermind, remember? If Kirumi was involved, why would she want to be here herself but not have any of the power?”

“Maybe she just wanted to observe? Or maybe she does have power we don’t know about? Who knows, she might even get off on it! Either way, you have to admit that she has to be our biggest suspect. To think she was like a mother to me!” Kokichi’s fake cries were ignored.

“I’ll ask her about it tomorrow. Get her side of the story.” The survivor decided.

“No, you won’t.” The Supreme Leader ordered.

“We have to hear her defence.”

“Her defence won’t be one you want to hear. It’s their biggest secret for a reason, Rantaro. Are you willing to take the chance she’d respond well? You have to keep this quiet, understand?” Kokichi was completely different, with his voice now having a firm tone and giving a hard stare.

“Fine. Play the next video.”

“Okay! Let’s do it!” He changed back to normal and quickly started the next one.

_ Miu Iruma! The Ultimate Inventor! _

_ Now, Miu may talk big about her sex life, but truth is she’s a virgin!  _

_ I wonder why she would hide this from you?  _

“Hmph. Did he even try with this one? I could tell she was a virgin from a mile away! Especially with how into Keebs she is.” 

“I suppose someone’s biggest secret may not necessarily be their best hidden...” The Robot put the next video up this time. “We have three left.”

_ Kaito Momota! The Ultimate Astronaut! _

_ Kaito is suffering from an illness. It’s so serious that I estimate he has just over  a  week to survive! Have you noticed he’s been coughing up blood? _

_ You know... he’s probably an easy target with how sick he is... _

“I knew Monokuma was sick, but this is truly disgusting. For him to try and make someone’s illness a motive! It’s despicable...” Keebo sighed, replacing the video.

“This explains the other day... he ran off coughing for no reason.” Rantaro remembered.

“Let’s see if we can help him later.” The Robot suggested, pressing play.

_ Gonta Gokuhara! The Ultimate Entomologist! _

_ Gonta claims to love all bugs, but that hasn’t always been true! A long time ago, as a young boy he accidentally destroyed a nest of rare wasps, turning them extinct.  _

_ I wonder why he hid this from you? _

“God! Another dud. This last one better be good, or I’ll have to command my assassins to kill us all.” Kokichi pulled out the final one. “We haven’t seen Kaede, Maki, Mine, Tenko or Korekiyo’s yet. I hope it’s mine! I wonder what it could be?”

_ Tenko Chabashira! The Ultimate Aikido Master! _

_ When Tenko began serving under her master, she took an oath not to allow impure thoughts to distract her from her path as an Neo-Aikido master, but since meeting Himiko she- _

“Oh, come on! Teen romance? I’m here for the serial killers and attempted murderers, not this! I swear, those four remaining videos better be the best thing ever.” He stopped the video and put them all back in the safe. “We still have to find the secrets Kirumi, Maki, Himiko and Angie received. Those were the only people without one in their rooms.”

“Is there any point?” Keebo asked. “I doubt anyone of them would be receptive to telling us. Let’s just hope they don’t plan on using them.” 

——————

Angie was alone in her room, waiting for her new tool. She’d left the door wide open, and was silently praying that Atua granted her what she needed. Her room was a maze of different objects and artworks, providing plenty of places to hide.

“Hello, Angie.” Korekiyo greeted, walking in and shutting the door.

“Nyahahahaha! Hello Korekiyo! How good it is to see you!”

“Spare me the false joy. Do you have it?” 

“Huh?” Her head bobbed from one side to the other. “Whatever do you mean, Korekiyo?”

“My secret. You wrote this note, did you not?” He held out the note, asking him to visit Angie at night.

“Ohhh that! Sure did!”

“Give it to me. I imagine you’ve watched it, and if it’s what I presume it to be I think we both know it would be in your best interest.” 

“Actually, I think I’ll be holding onto it. You see, I saw something very interesting in that video! You may be a serial killer, but you’ve only killed 97 people, and if you recall the rules, you’re only allowed to kill 2 people, not three!”

“There’s ways around that. You would be wise not to test my patience with these games.”

“There’s not a easy way around that. Sure, you could get around it rules wise by being the second person to kill before a trial, but you think you’ll be allowed anywhere near another one of your sister’s potential friends if you kill a single person? If you even get to one person, your chances of anymore will be over. I’ll make sure so myself.”

“What is your point?”

“My point, is that it’d be in your best interest to get out of here alive, so you be guaranteed to finish your goal! And that would be pretty difficult if everyone knew what you really were, right?”

“Are you saying you plan to blackmail me?

“Wow, you’re so smart!”

“What is stopping me from simply murdering you right now?”

“Well for one, we aren’t alone.” Korekiyo flinched, looking around the room for the other person. “You won’t find them. They’re hidden in this room, and I’m completely confident in their ability to stop you. You could even say it’s the thing they’re best at!” Angie’s face darkened. “So let me be very clear. You’re going to be nice and obedient, and if you do this one thing for me, I’ll destroy your secret.”

“I see. What is it you want?”

“I’m so glad you understand your place, Korekiyo! I have it all planned out. You’re going to deal with a emerging problem of mine, someone who is a threat to my plans. If you do it right, nobody will know either of us were involved apart from the people in this room.”

“Very well. Tell me what to do.”

——————

“Hey! Rantaro! Please wake up!” 

Rantaro sighed and slowly sat up, faced with Keebo shaking him and Kokichi’s absence. “What’s happening? Where’s Kokichi?”

“He’s outside with everyone else. Monodam is waiting for you, he’s making an announcement. Come on, I’d hate to keep him waiting.”

Outside, everyone was crowded around the five Monokubs, with Monokid being in his exisal. 

“WELCOME-RANTARO. WE-MAY-NOW-START-WITH-EVERYONE-HERE. PLEASE-DO-NOT-FEEL-NERVOUS-WITH-MONOKID’S-EXISAL-BEING-PRESENT. HE-IS-INJURED-AND-UNABLE-TO-LEAVE.”

“We don’t give a fuck about that! When can we leave?” Miu shouted out.

“Soon!” Monotaro answered. “We have cornered father in the gym. He has barricaded himself inside, but once we are through we’ll officially have control and be able to let you all out.”

“In the mean time.” Monosuke continued. “We decided to inform youse of some changes around here.”

“MOST-IMPORTANTLY-WE-HAVE-REMOVED-THE-NEW-MASTERMIND-FROM-THEIR-POSITION. THEY-ARE-NOW-A-NORMAL-STUDENT-LIKE-THE-REST-OF-YOU. PLEASE-CHECK-YOUR-MONOPADS-FOR-AN-IMPORTANT-RULE-ADDING-TO-THIS.”

Rantaro pulled his out, and sure enough there was another rule.

_ The former mastermind may not inform others of any information they learned because of their previous role. _

“We removed this mastermind due to us not approving of their methods, such as their plans for a certain one of you.” Multiple people were sure the pink kub looked directly at them. “We will be considering candidates for a new mastermind, but nothing is set in stone. Until then, we are the only five people with any power in the school!” Monophanie proudly beamed.

“Hell yeah! Bout time, right?”

“How long until Monokuma destroys you all and is in power again? I don’t wanna speak with knock-offs, I want the real deal!” Kokichi complained, making Monodam turn to stare at him.

“KOKICHI-OMA. WE-WISH-ONLY-FOR-EVERYONE-TO-GET-ALONG. ALLOW-ME-TO-GIVE-YOU-A-WARNING: YOU-ARE-POWERLESS-IN-THIS-SITUATION. I-KNOW-WHAT-YOU-ARE-PLANNING-AND-IF-YOU-CHOOSE-TO-CONTINUE-DOWN-YOUR-CURRENT-PATH-THEN-YOU-WILL-ONLY-FIND-YOURSELF-DEAD.”

“Awesome! Can’t wait to see you try your hardest, only to be crushed under my foot. In the meantime, I have a question about the rules. In all these it still says headmaster, and not headmasters.”

“Well, yes we couldn’t change the rules. Once one is put in place, it can’t be removed.” Monotaro explained.

“So does that mean only one of you is officially the headmaster?”

“Not at all, we’re all equal!” 

“But going off the rules, “headmaster” can’t be multiple people. Which one of you do these rules officially apply to?” The supreme leader pushed.

“Technically it’s Monodam... but he promised he would apply all of them to us! We just need to be control of everything, right Monodam?”

“...” Monodam gave no explanation, he just continued to stare directly at Kokichi.

“He’s just going quiet! He totally will put in that rule, so stop trying to split us apart!” Monophanie protested.

“I’m sure he will. But for now..” Kokichi slowly walked over to the five, stopping in front of Monophanie. “You have to follow the rules, like we do. You can’t punish someone for something that isn’t clearly against the rules, correct Monodam?”

“THAT-WOULD-BE-CORRECT.”

“Cool! Just making sure I had your word you wouldn’t protest...” He pulled out a knife, and plunged it as hard as he could into the pink Monokub. “When I did this.” He pulled the knife back out, returning Monodam’s stare.

“Monodam! He killed our sister! Do something!” Monotaro shouted.

“He can’t do anything. He signed her death warrant by confirming what I asked. Technically I could destroy you two now as well, but where’s the fun in that? Game on Monodam!” He blew Monodam a kiss, slipping back into his room.

”Monodam! Can’t you do something?! Sister was one of a kind!” Monotaro and his striped brother went over to their sister’s corpse, attempting to rebuild her but failing completely.

“THERE-IS-NOTHING-THAT-CAN-YET-BE-DONE. WE-MUST-USE-THIS-AS-MOTIVATION-TO-FINALLY-END-FATHER.”

The remaining Monokubs all walked out, leaving the students alone. “I have a feeling Kokichi is going to drag us down with him in this game of his.” Ryoma sighed, retreating to his room. 

“First the motives, now this. Does he ever quit?” Kaito sighed sighed. 

“Wait, the motives?” Rantaro asked. “Do you all know?”

“We all know. Did you seriously expect Kokichi to keep quiet about it?” Maki glared.

“Right. Well, they’re destroyed now so it’s fine.” Rantaro lied, exchanging a look with Keebo.

“But you still saw them.”

“They were terrible anyway.” He continued. “If it helps, I don’t think of any of you any worse because of them.” He went to go see Kokichi, followed by Keebo. 

Everyone was silent until Keebo shut the door, only exchanging looks.

“Why the hell did you have to antagonise Monodam?” Rantaro sighed out of frustration.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m ruining the killing game, remember? What better way to ruin someone’s authority then murdering one of his workers in front of him?”

“Workers?” Keebo questioned.

“You can tell that’s all they are to him, I know the type. He might say they’re all equal, but Monodam considers himself in charge and the others know he does deep down. I just sowed a couple seeds of doubt, that’s all. I’ve done it a million times. Knock off the people at the bottom, and the entire organisation crumbles.”

“God, I hate how much sense that makes.” The tallest boy groaned. “Why couldn’t you have told us you were going to challenge Monodam? You told us we were equal in this team.”

“We are equal! It was just a spur of the moment thing. I saw an opportunity and took it. I do wish I’d realised he was this far ahead in his plan though.”

“You knew this was going to happen?”

“Keebs, in case you haven’t realised yet, I know everything. Including what Monodam’s plan was. He told me that time he was telling me about the motive.”

“Kokichi...” Keebo sighed.

“Look, I get you’re mad but I just didn’t want you to be distracted when we were handling the motives! It was a necessary lie. Anyway, we have more important things to do today! Figuring out how to destroy the motives.”

“I’m afraid I can’t help. I have to go to Miu’s room soon, she has some important work to do on me.” Keebo apologised.

“Aw come on, can’t you put off her making you produce some random condiment a day?’

“I think it’s serious. She spoke to me earlier and genuinely seemed worried. I’m sorry Kokichi, I’ll help you next time.” The robot gave a nod to Rantaro, and left. 

“Aw, it’s no fun without him. I guess we better get started. Want some food?” Kokcihi offered to the green haired boy, holding out one of the bags they’d brought.

——————

“Come on in Keebs!” Miu’s room was completely transformed into a makeshift laboratory, complete with a workbench on one side of the room and a desk at the other.. “I need you to lie down on this table, got it?”

“Why exactly? You still haven’t explained what you’re doing.” Despite his questioning, Miu positioned him on the table.

“I’m just gonna have a dig around in your head, okay? I found something weird the other day and need to take another look.”

“Something weird? What?” 

“A transmitter. It’s probably attached to an antenna, which I think is what that thing it.” She tapped Keebo’s ahoge.

“An antenna? Why would I have an antenna?”

“That’s what I’m gonna find out, genius! Now come on, power off.” She ordered. He reluctantly shut himself off, placing his trust in her.

For the rest of the day, Miu spent her time almost completely deconstructing Keebo’s head.  _ His damn eyes are cameras... now I’ve got to build him new ones of them as well. _

By the evening, she’d destroyed his old eyes and built him new ones, and safely removed the antenna. She stole a quick look at the time . _11pm. Once I take this apart and figure out where the signal’s going, I just have to rebuild him._

—————— 

Rantaro woke up in the middle of the night the next day. Both of his partners were gone, so he went to find company.

The only person outside was Ryoma, staring through the glass doors. “Hey Ryoma. You seen Kokichi?”

“I haven’t. What do you need him for?”

“Nothing in particular. He seems to have left while I was sleeping, so I wanted to see if something happened.”

“You’d be wise to distance yourself from him. He’s dangerous, yesterday proved that.”

“I know I should be careful, and I am. But what’s the harm in working with him while he seems to be working for the greater good?”

The shorter boy smiled to himself. “You still got a ways to go. I imagine one day you’ll be kicking yourself for saying that. I’ll see you around, kid.” Ryoma left Rantaro to stare at his reflection. “Wait... come look at this.” 

“What’s wrong?” Rantaro asked. The shortest boy had stopped by Kaede’s door, pointing at the edges of the door. 

“There’s something in the door frame.” He was talking about a green gel, spread along the gap between the door’s lock and the frame. “Kaede, you okay in there?” Ryoma asked, giving the door a few knocks.

“She can’t hear us. The rooms are soundproofed, remember? I’ll try the doorbell.” He pressed it a couple times, but there was still no response after five minutes. “She’s probably just sleeping, right?”

“I don’t think this is something we can just let go. I think we should break the door down. She might be hurt. Go get Gonta, I’ll see if Tenko’s up.” 

Panic was building in his mind, going over all the possible things that might be behind the door.  _ Calm down. She’s fine, it’ll all be okay. She’ll probably be fast asleep. _

He practically hammered’s Gonta’s doorbell, stepping back as the boy burst out the door. “Rantaro! What’s wrong?” 

“We need you to break down Kaede’s door, we’re worried something might be happening to her.” He brought him back over to her door, now with Tenko and Miu also standing outside.

“Yep, that’s definitely a glue. Fast drying one from the looks of it.” Miu agreed.

“Alright! You’re going to help me get in here Gonta, understand?” Tenko commanded.

“Yes! Gonta is ready!”

After a couple attempts, they knocked the door down. “Yeah! I knew we could do it!” Miu cheered.

“I’m pretty sure you did nothing..” Ryoma murmured as he stepped inside, visibly shaking when he saw it.

_ A-BODY-HAS-BEEN-DISCOVERED. PLEASE-CONVERGE-ON-KAEDE’S-ROOM. _

Tied to a chair, with a arrow impaled through her head was the body of Kaede Akamatsu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we’re finally here. I think this chapter took longer than any of the others to release, which I’m sorry for. Originally the victim was Miu, and I was having a lot of writers block which led to a pretty obvious case with an obvious and unsatisfying culprit. I had to rewrite this a couple times, with me having the rest of the entire chapter finished up until recently, when I changed my mind on who the victims should be. 
> 
> I had a surge of inspiration I guess, and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve come up with. I imagine the culprit currently looks pretty obvious, but I’m confident enough to say that I guarantee it’s not who you’re thinking. Investigation will be one chapter, out in a few days. Likely two trial chapters, out a bit after that. 
> 
> As for the actual victim, it was a weird feeling coming to the conclusion she was the best character to kill next. She was originally going to be one of the most important characters, but as things shifted more towards Kokichi and Keebo and away from Kaito there was less and less room for her. Especially as this isn’t going to be a Kaede/Rantaro book anymore. I know it’s a pretty violent way to go, just wait until you see the end results.
> 
> The main advantage here is how it’s going to effect other characters, who I won’t spoil though I imagine you can easily guess who. 
> 
> There’s also Angie. I can’t really say anything about her without spoiling what is coming but let’s just say it’s a relief to finally be starting her plan, I’ve been sitting on that conversation between her and Korekiyo since before the first chapter. Thinking about it, it was probably the first proper thing I wrote for the story. 
> 
> This chapters motives are going to be hanging around for quite a while. As you probably aren’t keeping track, we haven’t seen Kaede, Kokichi, Korekiyo (technically, tho obviously we know who has it and what’s on it.) and Maki’s yet. 
> 
> There’s also Monodam, scheming up a storm. So much I wanna say about him but nothing I really can without spoilers. I don’t know how long he will be the “headmaster” of the school, I want to see how he is presiding over the trial. I doubt he’ll be permanent though, so don’t worry in case you hate him. 
> 
> I hope this wasn’t too bad of a chapter. I’ve been editing it for a couple days now, and I kind of feel if I keep working on it it’ll only be negatively effected. A lot happened in it that’s setting up stuff for the future, but I’m a little worried it feels like too much. I can’t sit on it any longer or I’ll just over edit it and make more drastic changes though, so I’m just going for it. If you spot a mistake don’t worry to tell me, I have read this over a couple times but it seems like I always miss something. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Deadly Life I

Rantaro, Tenko, Ryoma and Kokichi were in Kaede’s room, beginning to search. Because of the gruesome crime scene, those four were the only ones who had volunteered to do the investigation. The screens came to life again, one again showing only one of the Monokubs.

_ Everyone! Please check your monopads for the Monodam file! _

“Monodam file? Not Monokubs file?” Tenko wondered.

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** The Monokuma File:  ** _ The victim is Kaede Akamatsu. Her only wound was from a crossbow’s arrow, killing her instantly when it hit. _

“It’s hasn’t given us the time of death.” The tennis pro pointed out. “That must mean it’s relevant to the trial again.”

“God, that whole timeline thing was really annoying last time. I’d say this is completely useless otherwise.” The purple haired boy groaned.

“It tells us what weapon was used.” Tenko pointed out. “A crossbow. Why would someone use a crossbow?” 

“It does seem a little random.” Looking around again, Kokichi spotted something poking out from under the door. “Hey, help me lift this. There’s something under there.”

All four of them hoisted it up, leaning it against the wall. 

“The door handle’s come off.” Ryoma pointed out. “It has holes for four screws, but there’s only two screws on the floor here.”

“It was probably just from when we broke the door down.” Tenko offered.

“Even so, I think we better keep an eye out for them. Who knows, it might be something.” Kokichi ordered the others, making Tenko scoff.

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** Door Handle:  ** _ Kaede’s door handle has come off. A few of the screws are missing. _

Underneath the door was a broken crossbow, two large books, a broken table and some rope. 

Rantaro gathered the pieces. “Well, here’s the crossbow at least. Why would someone leave it?” 

“Perhaps it had to be left?” Ryoma offered. “If only we had the tools to find fingerprints..”

** Truth Bullet Obtained!  **

** Broken Crossbow:  ** _ A crossbow was found broken under the door. _

“What about this table? The crossbow’s pieces and the books are on top of it, but why’d they bother setting that up? Wouldn’t it be smarter to take the weapon with you?” The tallest boy asked.

“Maybe someone was outside, and they couldn’t risk being seen with it?” 

“Sure, but that wouldn’t explain why you would move her bedside table to in front of the door just to leave the crossbow and some random books on it.”

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** Bedside Table:  ** _ Kaede’s bedside table was moved in between her and the door, and the crossbow was left on it. _

Tenko lifted one of the books. “Whoa, these are heavy. They’re both full of hundreds of piano songs.”

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** Large Books:  ** _ Two large books were found in the room, on top of the broken table with the crossbow. _

“Hey, how’s it going in here?” Kaito appeared from the door, looking pale. 

“Kaito, go lie down. You’re sick enough without the stress of this.” Rantaro ordered.

“Wait, how do you know I’m-“ 

“Go! You almost fainted earlier! You’re going to disgust Himiko with your weakness!”The Neo-Aikido master grabbed him by the arm and forced him into his room, walking in after him.

“Thank god. Now that she’s finally gone, I can tell you both something really important.” Kokichi’s usual smile returned, and he leant back against the wall.

“What is it?” The shortest boy asked.

“I know where this crossbow comes from. It’s part of Himiko’s magic equipment.” 

“Himiko? Seriously?”

“Yep! I saw her and Tenko bringing it in with the rest of her stuff. I imagine Tenko knows it is deep down, but I doubt she’d be fine with me saying it.” 

“Alright, that’s a lead. We’ll have to ask her about it later. For now, let’s keep looking at the room.” Rantaro decided.

“Any clue what this is?” Ryoma nudged a bit of rope on the floor.

“Maybe just some leftover rope from typing her up?” Kokichi offered as he searched the closet.

“No, it’s definitely something.” The prisoner argued. ”Look, it’s tied in a loop around this bit of the crossbow. Anyone know what this part does?”

“Nope. Think anyone else will?”

“I’ll go ask. Good luck.” The tennis pro nodded, walking out.

“How’s it going?” Tenko replaced the boy the second he left, making Kokichi audibly groan. 

“Well, if you’re going to insist on interrupting, we’re about to check the body.”

“Have some decency. Someone died.” She snapped.

“If only it was you....” Kokichi whispered.

Kaede’s body was hard to look at. “She was crying.. I can’t believe one of us would be so sick...” Tenko felt tears well up in her as she shut Kaede’s eyes.

“At least we don’t have to look here for much longer. I don’t see any evidence. Except for the arrow that is.” Kokichi turned to give the room one last look.

“I brought Harukawa. She says she knows a bit about crossbows.” Ryoma announced, followed by a reluctant Maki.

“Does she now? I wonder why that would be?” The purple haired boy grinned.

“My father was a hunter. Is that a problem?”

“Not yet. So! Talk to me.”

“The rope, whatever it is was tied around the pocket. That’s the bit of the crossbow the arrow sits in.” 

“The bit you pull back?” 

“Yes. Am I done now?”

“Sure, get out of here.” The supreme leader dismissed, making her scowl and leave. “What a waste of time.”

“Hey, I think I’ve noticed something.” Rantaro took the rope from the shortest boy. “This is a different kind of rope to what Kaede’s tied up with.”

“Oh, wow! I’m sure the entire case is solved now.”

“Just look, this stretches. And it’s really tough like it wouldn’t break easily as well. Test your knife on it.”

Kokichi did as he was asked, and tried to cut through it. “Hey, you’re right. What is this made of? It’s like a massive rubber band.”

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** The Rope:  ** _ A loop of rope was found tied to the pocket of a crossbow. It stretches and can’t be cut through easily. _

“Well, I think that’s everything. Let’s go find Himiko.” Kokichi sighed, starting to leave.

“Himiko? Why do you want Himiko?” Tenko glared.

“This crossbow is part of one of her magic acts, right?” 

“They might look the same, but that’s probably a coincidence!” 

“Look, if we don’t work this out now she’ll be faced with everyone asking about this at the trial. Trust me, it’s better this way.” Rantaro assured her.

“Fine. You two can go, but not him!” To no one’s surprise, she was pointing at Kokichi.

“Sure, whatever. I need to go check up on Keebs anyway. Get that alibi, okay?” He ran off to Miu’s room, who’s frustration upon seeing him was heard by everyone.

Himiko was in her room, polishing swords from one of her magic tricks. “Himiko... these degenerates need to question you.”

“Hm? What for...?”

“Does this broken crossbow belong to you?” Rantaro held out a few of the pieces.

“Huh? It looks like one of mine but mine are all in here..” She pulled over a box, opening it to show two other crossbows. “Wait... there should be 3 in here...”

“So you haven’t given one of them out, it’s somehow left your room without you knowing?” 

“I wouldn’t have let anyone near my magic....”

“Which means someone somehow got into your room without you knowing and took your crossbow. Are you sure you know nothing? This makes you look suspicious.” Ryoma pushed.

“It can’t be Himiko! I’ve been with her the entire time! I haven’t even slept to keep guard over her!”

“Well, that’s a bit obsessive, but if you’re sure she can’t have given the crossbow away then we’ll have to take your word for it.” Rantaro uncomfortably accepted.

“That doesn’t however mean you couldn’t have given the crossbow away. If you’ve been in Himiko’s room, you also would’ve had access to them while she slept.” Tenko stared daggers at Ryoma, like he’d mentioned something she hadn’t wanted to think about.

“Actually... I haven’t been letting her inside when I sleep. She just stands outside.”

“Himiko needs her privacy! I learnt that the hard way after I-“

“Okay, that’s enough.” The brunette groaned? “I’m not interested in hearing anymore. If Himiko couldn’t have given the crossbow away without Tenko seeing, and Tenko couldn’t have given the crossbow away without Himiko seeing, then it must’ve been a time you both weren’t here. Has that happened?”

“Only during Angie’s prayer circles. Himiko has converted to Atua’s religion.”

“Great.... let’s go ask Angie who’s been attending her circles. If those people were there, they can’t have been the ones who took the crossbow.”

Angie was in her room, moulding a wax figure. “Hello, hello! Please, please come in!”

“Hello Angie. Could you please tell us about the prayer circles you’ve been holding? Who is attending them?” Ryoma began, bringing up the monopad to write a new truth bullet.

“Of course, of course! Gonta, Himiko, Tenko and Korekiyo have been participating!”

“And nobody has missed a session?”

“Nope! The only person who has ever left a circle is myself, when I needed to grab something to relight the candle. It’s impossible to see anything out there in the evenings without it or power!”

“When was this?”

“At yesterday’s session! Atua was very upset that we had to delay our prayers.”

“Thanks, that’s all we need.” The short boy nodded, turning to leave.

** Truth Bullet Obtained! **

** Prayer Circle:  ** _ Himiko and Tenko have consistently attended Angie’s prayer circles, and this was the only time they wouldn’t have been in Himiko’s room. This means everyone at Angie’s circles could not have stolen the crossbow. _

“No worries! Are you okay Rantaro? You seem nervous.”

“I’m fine.” 

“If you’re sure! You know you can tell me anything. Remember the path to Atua is always open!”

Giving her a nod, they both walked out. “So what now?” Ryoma wondered. “I don’t see any other leads.”

“We could try to figure out where the rope came from, but it may be a pointless effort. Let’s find Kokichi first, see what he’s thought of.”

Kokichi was with Miu, who was slowly taking apart Keebo’s antenna. 

“So tell me, what’s so special about his ahoge?” 

“Back off! It’s none of your business alright? Just fuck off you shit-stained urinal!”

“What did you just say to me? I think you’re forgetting your place, you filthy pig.”

“F-Filthy pig!? What are you gonna do to me-“

“What are you two doing?” Rantaro interrupted.

“Oh hi! Miu was about to confess her love!”

“W-What? I never-“

“Enough.” Ryoma silenced them both. “I’m tired of your games. We’ve investigated Himiko, and she can’t have set up the murder as she was watched like a hawk by Tenko. As for when the crossbow was stolen, we only have one possible time: yesterday’s prayer circle.”

“Cool! I knew that already of course.” He grinned, waking past them. “Thanks for letting me see how Keebs was doing Miu!”

“Don’t come back...”

“Come on you two, we’re going to see Korekiyo about the rope.”

——————

“I am afraid this isn’t mine. I only make ropes out of straw, hemp and cotton. This is made of a durable form of rubber, a material I would never consider using.”

“Speaking of your authentic ropes, are you aware Kaede was tied up with rope like you have?” Rantaro took a look around the room, and was a little intimidated by the massive amounts of rope, many of different colours and materials.

“I have inspected the rope. It is not like the rope I use, more like a weak store bought rope. I imagine it was brought from the warehouse, meaning the crime was likely premeditated.”

“Wow, to think I thought the killer just happened to have a crossbow and bundles of rope! You’re so smart Korekiyo!”

“I suggest you remove him, before I lose my patience.”

“No need, I’m leaving willingly.” 

Outside, the three boys were looking through the evidence on their monopads.

“I don’t trust Korekiyo’s word on the rope. He had mounds of it in there, it seems unlikely he wouldn’t have the type of rope used to tie up Kaede.” Ryoma commented.

“It’s not really enough to accuse him off, though. There’s no actual evidence there, just that he happens to be really into rope.” 

“There’s not enough evidence to accuse anyone. Our best three subjects all have loose connections to the crime. We can’t even go off alibis this time as everything happened at night. Most people would be just in their rooms.” Kokichi sighed.

“Perhaps this case will go unsolved..”

A familiar ding echoed through the dormitories.  _ “EVERYONE. IT-IS-TIME-FOR-THE-CLASS-TRIAL.” _

_ “We will be unlocking the doors, so everyone must please head to the trial grounds as soon as possible.” _

_ “Do it, or I’ll stick the exisals on ya!” _ Monosuke yelled just as the feed cut.

“I suppose it’s time. Good luck, everyone.” Ryoma shrugged, being the first to leave. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here’s the investigation time. I don’t know if it’s going to be obvious or not at all who the culprit is, but hopefully it’ll be a surprise.
> 
> Investigation is always the hardest to write, but I think this was okay. I know this is likely the shortest chapter so far, but it really did lay out all the evidence needed and it’s just a matter of putting it together. 
> 
> For once I’m not going to say how long it is until the class trial chapters since it was like 5 days since the last chapter even though I said this would take like two days. It will probably be a good amount of time as I’m going to write both class trial chapters at once so I don’t forget anything and can keep things consistent. 
> 
> Oh and if you saw an error or something definitely tell me, it’s almost 3am so I very well may have missed something somewhere.


	10. Class Trial I

Before they went to the trial, Rantaro made sure to gather up all of the crossbow’s pieces in a bag on Kokichi’s orders.

“I just think it might be important we have all of them. Thanks for being such a dedicated worker!”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Let’s get going.” The dormitories doors were unlocked, and for the first time in days they got some fresh air. “So, do you know who did it?”

“Sorry Rantaro, but I’ll be keeping the cards close to my chest for this one. I’d love to frantically discuss with you but this trial is a little different.”

They all arrived at the shrine of judgement, with only one person missing. 

“How are you two feeling about the result of this trial?” Korekiyo asked

“Well, I’m not feeling confident,” Rantaro sighed. “It happened at a time that essentially nobody had an alibi and there’s no evidence that links it to anyone. Well, except for you and-“

“Yes, I am prepared to be taking accusations this trial. With my enjoyment of rope and lack of alibi, I imagine I’ll be considered suspicious.”

“Man, Keebs is taking forever.” Kokichi tutted. “He better hurry up, I can’t have him being punished.”

Despite the robot’s absence, the statue crumbled and the elevator doors opened. They all stepped inside, and the elevator whirred to life.

The doors opened again after a few minutes, and Monodam and Monotaro were their to greet them, both awkwardly squashed into Monokuma’s usual chair. 

“WELCOME-EVERYONE. PLEASE-STEP-OVER-TO-YOUR-PODIUMS.”

“Where are your brothers?” Kirumi asked.

“THAT-IS-IRRELEVANT.”

“Sure is!” The red monokub cheered, throwing his stars in the air. “Please note that K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot has been excused from this class trial as they have not been reconstructed!”

“Wow Miu, you haven’t even reconstructed him yet?” Kokichi shook his head, tutting at the girl.

“Hey, fuck off! Robotic engineering is harder than it looks, y’know!”

“Tch, whatever. It’s not like you could have disappointed me any further.”

“PLEASE-FLIRT-LATER. HEAD-TO-YOUR-PODIUMS.”

“Let’s begin, shall we?” Korekiyo asked. “Does anyone have anything to suggest?”

“Sure!” The supreme leader said. “Himiko is the culprit!”

“Nyeh!?”

“How dare you!” Tenko lunged for the boy.

“Oh c’mon, it’s obvious! It’s her crossbow!”

“We’ve established that she wouldn’t have had a chance to use or give the crossbow away due to Tenko’s obsession.” Ryoma sighed. “You already know this Kokichi.”

“On paper, sure but there’s one fatal flaw in that argument. You’re too trusting.”

“Excuse me?”

“I had the displeasure of seeing Tenko’s secret, and what it revealed was-“

“Kokichi, I don’t believe it would be okay for you to share people’s secrets.” Kirumi interrupted.

“Ugh, fine! You’re so lame. I’ll try a very similar angle. I’m sure we’d all agree Tenko is pretty obsessed with Himiko, right?” Everyone gave some sort of agreement, much to Tenko’s anger. “Well, since she likes Himiko that much, who’s to say she didn’t lie to give Himiko a defence?”

“That’s... a fair argument to make.” The shortest boy nodded.

“What!? I like Himiko, but I’d never help her get away with murder!”

“Are you sure?” Ryoma asked. “You do seem rather attached to her.” 

“Yes! Back off, okay?!”

“That’s enough! Tenko would never do something like that, and neither would Himiko!” Kaito yelled.

“You don’t have any proof to back that up though, do you?” Kokichi taunted. “Honestly, have you not learned that you never really know what people might be capable of?”

“I don’t need proof! I just know, alright?”

“Kokichi, while you have a point, there’s no real evidence to make it enough to vote for either of them.” Rantaro argued, making the other boy sigh loudly. “The idea the crossbow was stolen during the prayer circle is just as possible with this little evidence towards either of them. Let’s just take a look at what we do know instead of guessing what happened without proof.”

“Wow! You’re so smart Rantaro! Atua is very proud.”

“I would like to discuss the actions of the killer, if that’s okay.” The maid requested. “I’m struggling to understand them.”

“How so?”

“Well the killer loosened the handle, but then they also glued the door shut. Isn’t that a contradiction? And why set up the table, books and crossbow?”

“That’s the big question isn’t it? Figure out what the table and friends is for, and you’ll solve it all.” Monotaro wondered.

“Perhaps the killer simply added extra steps to confuse us?” The Anthropologist suggested.

“That would be a big risk though, wouldn’t it? With all of us crowded in one place, would they not want to get out of there as soon as possible?” Kirumi argued. 

“It was the middle of the night and pitch black, so as long as they were quiet it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“So that’s another dead end then!” Kaito groaned.

“What about the rope?” Maki suggested.

“I can sense where this is going...” Korekiyo smiled to himself. “The rope was not mine.”

“That’s not a good enough defence. You could be lying easily.” She glared at him.

“But rope is a common object. Anyone could have it.”

“True. But we’ve seen you with a lot of it. You’re still suspicious because you do have it. That makes you a suspect.”

“Plus, he’s pretty creepy. I mean, have you seen how he stares at me or Kaede?” Miu gagged.

“Do not flatter yourself.”

“Everyone!” Angie’s loud voice silenced everyone else. “Please stop accusing poor Korekiyo! He was with me all night! We were praying to Atua!”

“Yes, that’s right. We were there together the entire time, so it cannot be me.”

“Well now what do we do?” Tenko asked.

“Nyeh... let’s work out who stole my crossbow... I’m angry they broke it.” Himiko muttered.

“But there’s no evidence as to how that happened, and the only person who knows how to pick locks was with me during the prayer circle.” Rantaro explained, making the mage turn away.

”How about we just use logic to rule people out?” Kirumi asked.

“How so?”

“Well the Monodam file gave no sign of drugging, so whoever it was had to overpower Kaede. That rules out a few of us.”

“But where do we go from there? All the evidence apart from the crossbow must have either came from her room or the warehouse, so there’s no other way to rule people out.” Ryoma said.

“Gonta not so good with logic.” The boy sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Any other suggestions?”

The room was silent, leading to the red monokub jumping scene into the centre. “Hey, you guys want a hint?”

“NO. DO-NOT-GIVE-THEM-A-HINT.”

“Hey, you’re not in charge! We’re partners!”

“I’m not sure I even want a hint from you....” The shortest boy pulled his hat down.

“Yeah, isn’t that cheating?” Kokichi asked.

“What? You guys! This is perfect! Give us the hint!” The Astronaut yelled.

“DO-NOT.”

“You guys have forgotten all about the rope!”

“I hardly think that’s a hint!” The maid complained.

“It’s barely even an observation.” Korekiyo sighed.

“It’s also completely useless. Reminds me of a certain someone.” 

Ignoring the others, Rantaro pulled the truth bullet up on his monopad.

_ It was tied around the pocket, the bit of the crossbow that you pull back. Maybe that’s how the crossbow was fired? But that would be pretty awkward if you had to hold the crossbow as well. But if they did fire by pulling a wire, then it would explain why they’d weighed down the crossbow with books. Can crossbows even stand on their own? _

“I have a theory.” Rantaro announced. “Well, part of one.”

“Sure, better then what Kaito is probably thinking. Which part?” The supreme leader asked.

“The crossbow, table, books and the wire. Though, I need Maki to look these pieces over for me. Does this crossbow have anything like a stand, so it could sit on the table on its own?” He passed her the bag of pieces, and she reluctantly looked it over.

“Yes, it’s these two black things. They’re like legs. They come out and you could use them to stand the crossbow on it’s own.”

“Okay, thanks. I think the books were used to hold the legs down. With how sturdy and heavy the table was, I think they had it set up so they could pull the pocket of the crossbow back using the wire instead of just touching the pocket. The books and heavy table meant they couldn’t accidentally pull it all over.”

“So you think they pulled it back using the wire.” Kirumi nodded. “I could see that, but why?” 

“Maybe they wanted more force to make sure it killed her?” Kaito suggested.

“Is that how that works?”

“Or they wanted to avoid getting blood on them.” Korekiyo said.

“The blood was only behind Kaede though.” Maki argued. “Considering how this crime is likely premeditated, they must’ve known that would happen.” 

“No matter the reason, this theory is certainly a start. There’s still the loose handle and the glued door however. How do they fit in?” Ryoma asked.

“One makes the door easier to open, the other makes it harder. I don’t get it.” Himiko pouted.

“As I suggested earlier,” The anthropologist sighed. “Clearly it was done to confuse us.”

“Perhaps, but we need to consider all possibilities before we assume that.”

“Very well. In that case, what would gluing the door achieve Ryoma?”

“Maybe they needed the door to be broken down?” Tenko suggested.

“Possibly, maybe to try and hide the evidence.” Ryoma agreed.

“We found the evidence easily though. And what about the handle? If they needed us to break down the door, why would they have gone to the effort of making it easier to open the door?” Tenko asked.

“Maybe they needed the handle to come off?” Rantaro said.

“What would they do that for?” 

“The other end of the loop was around it, clearly.” Kokichi sighed, inspecting his nails. “Are you finally starting to figure it out?”

“But then if the loop was around the handle, how could they fire?”Maki asked.

“Maybe they didn’t.” The survivor realised. “What if it was a trap? They glued the door shut because they needed us to break it down.”

“So when Gonta and Tenko broke the door down, the handle came off.... meaning the loop also did, letting the arrow fly forward. Okay, that makes sense.” Kaito conceded. “But it still doesn’t tell us who did it.”

“Actually, it does. Gonta and Tenko are the culprits.” Kokichi grinned. “After all, what would be the point of setting up the trap if it didn’t make save them from being the culprit?”

“But if they aren’t the culprit, that would meant they would have no chance of going free either.” Maki argued. “I don’t think anyone would have reason to kill if they aren’t trying to escape.”

“Are you sure about that? I think you of all people should know that isn’t true.”

“Gonta and I can’t be the culprit!” Tenko argued. “We didn’t know about the trap, therefore we can’t be held responsible!”

“But you still caused Kaede to die! Your actions were the reason she died!” The supreme leader mocked.

“Kokichi makes a good point. Despite not knowing what their actions would cause, they were still the ones to cause her death.” Angie smiled. “But we can’t have two culprits, can we?”

“I can’t believe you’re all considering this! It’s not Gonta and I!” We can’t be held accountable for something we didn’t know would happen!”

“This is also still just a theory.” Kirumi added.

“It’s the only theory that makes sense with the evidence we have.” Angie said. “So, who are we meant to vote for?”

“IN-A-CASE-WHERE-YOU-BELIEVE-THERE-IS-TWO-CULPRITS-YOU-MUST-PICK. WHICH-ONE? GONTA-OR-TENKO?

“Cool! Let’s vote Tenko!” The Supreme Leader grinned.

“Me?!”

“Obviously, you’ve spent the entire time antagonising my gender, not to mention what you’ve done to me specifically! It was all totally uncalled for! Plus, Gonta’s such a great tool! Have you seen his muscles?”

“Yes, Gonta is a very kind person, Atua and I would hate to lose him!”

“It does seem most convenient for us to keep Gonta.” Korekiyo nodded.

“You’re not voting for Tenko!” The mage yelled.

“We’re not voting for anyone! This is completely unfair!” Kaito insisted.

“PERHAPS. BUT-IT-IS-STILL-REQUIRED. VOTING-TIME-WILL-START-SOON. PLEASE-DECIDE. GONTA-OR-TENKO?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, funny story. I wrote these two class trial chapters and finished them by the 10th. Somehow, I tricked myself into thinking I’d already published them which is why there’s been such a long gap in between chapters. I’m posting them now though, so please enjoy.
> 
> As an apology, the next class trial chapter is going to be combined with the first half of what would’ve been Chapter 3’s first daily life. It actually works pretty well this way as because of how much happens on the first days of chapters (unlocking areas and what you might find within, new perk, etc) a lot of times it can feel like each plot point or whatever doesn’t get time to breathe. This way the chapter will end on a important plot point, instead of hurrying along to the rest of the day. 
> 
> Next chapter should be up within minutes, I just have to write the notes and stuff. I’ll talk about everything happening in this chapter there. 
> 
> I did proof read the chapter but you never know, if you saw a mistake don’t worry about offending me if you point it out


	11. Class Trial II/Daily Life I

“So, is everyone in agreement to vote for Tenko?” Kokichi asked.

“No! Why can’t we just make the votes equal?” Kaito said.

“THAT-WOULD-JUST-KILL-BOTH-OF-THEM. YOU-HAVE-A-MINUTE-TO-PREPARE.”

“I do not see any reason not to save Gonta. He would be helpful when we decide to fight against whoever’s in charge at the time.” Korekiyo said.

“Tenko knows Neo-Aikido! She can fight too!” Himiko yelled.

“But she is not as strong as Gonta! He is so powerful and can keep me safe with his muscly arms!” Angie beamed. “Logic dictates we save Gonta!”

“Everyone, please stop!” Gonta slammed his fists down on the podium, breaking his screen and making everyone go silent. “Gonta does not want anyone to die! Gonta knows it is his duty as a gentleman to go if someone has to die.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Gonta, Tenko needs to go! You’re much more important!” The supreme leader argued. “I have so many plans for you!”

Gonta shook his head. “Gonta doesn’t want friends to die. They all deserve to live. Gonta demands you vote for him!”

“It that’s seriously what you want...” Kirumi sighed.

“Hell no! I’m not killing Gonta! Not with those.. proportions!” Miu hesitated.

“Get your brain out of the gutter already!” The Astronaut shouted.

“Gonta insists you vote for Gonta!” 

“Why would you want to give your life for me?” Tenko’s voice was uncharacteristically small. “After everything I said.”

“Tenko is Gonta’s friend.” Gonta pounded his fist to his chest. “Gonta promised to protect his friends. It’s the right thing to do.” Gonta gave the biggest smile he could. “That is why Gonta demands you vote for him!”

“Have you guys noticed Tenko wasn’t like,” Kokichi paused to put on his best Tenko impression. “No! Vote for me instead! Gonta shouldn’t die! She’s perfectly willing to let Gonta die so she can live! That is why she should be the one who dies!”

“That’s not true! I just don’t think either of us are the culprits!”

“Alright, I’m bored.” Monotaro sighed. “Start the voting!”

Rantaro looked at the 16 faces on the screen. 

_ On one hand, Tenko has been incredibly rude to me generally. She’s not someone I’d like to spend any amount of time with. Gonta is the complete opposite, he’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. But if he’s so sure he wants people to vote for him, then I suppose I owe it to him. I can’t imagine how guilty he would feel knowing Tenko died when he could’ve saved her. _

He pressed Gonta’s face. 

After a couple minutes, the results screen appeared from the ceiling.

Gonta Gokuhara: 7 votes

Tenko Chabashira: 5 votes

“Correct! The culprits of this case are Gonta and Tenko!” 

“This isn’t fair..” Himiko  whispered.

“Which one of you bastards set this up? I swear to god, I’ll find you!” The astronaut yelled.

“I still think it was Himiko if we’re being honest.” Kokichi shrugged.

“IT-IS-TIME.”

“Gonta understands.” He’d started to cry, but kept smiling. “Goodbye everyone. Please remember to be strong and protect others, Gonta knows you can all make it out of here alive! Gonta believes in you all!”

** GONTA GOKUHARA, ULTIMATE ENTOMOLOGIST: BOXED IN WITH THE BUGS **

** (Warning, tons of insects. No insects are named but if insects are a fear of yours then it might just be best if skip it, I’ve marked out where it ends with a *) **

Gonta was tied to a stake, lowered into a large space that was made to look like a hive. 

He hung there for a few seconds, nervously waiting. Sweat was running down his face, but his calm face didn’t crack. Soon, wasps started to fly out of holes in the walls in the thousands. They swarmed all around the hive, completely engulfing his figure.

The walls of the hive started closing in. The wasps were pushed closer and closer to Gonta, making them more and more angry. The floor collapsed and he dropped out of the bottom, his face completely swollen. 

Next, he landed in a giant web. Below him was a giant pit full of every bug imaginable all stretching up to try and reach him. Monokid and Monosuke appeared on a platform above, carrying Monokuma with no arms or legs. They tossed their father onto Gonta’s lap, and Monosuke grabbed a bow.

With Monokid lighting the arrow, the striped bear shot it through Monokuma’s head and straight into Gonta’s chest. They both ignited, and Gonta’s screams were harrowing. It quickly spread to the web, burning it to ashes as they both fell down into the pit of bugs which devoured them in seconds.

The two bears platform ascended, and they joined their brothers in the chair.

** (*) **

“That was sickening, all for someone who didn’t even do anything wrong.” The maid sighed.

“But they did do something wrong!” Monotaro jumped up. “Gonta killed Kaede, remember?”

“Not on purpose!” Kaito lunged for the Monokubs, but missed and fell. “They were set up by one of us, and you’re letting that person walk free!” 

“We sure are! They didn’t kill anyone, and Gonta and Tenko did!”

“But that’s not fair because-“

“Just stop.” Ryoma helped the other boy up. “They aren’t going to change their mind, and Gonta is already dead. Let’s just leave.”

Kaito sighed, but followed Ryoma into the elevator. Everyone else entered soon after, and it began moving. 

Outside, the lights were all on. “Guess powers back everywhere then. That’s good at least. I’m starving. Hey Maki, wanna join-“ Kaito was interrupted by Maki shoving past him and sprinting away into the main school building in silence. “What’s she running so fast for?”

“She probably knows that the second she leaves her lab unattended I’m gonna go in, and take as many photos as I can.” Kokichi smiled. 

“Well, with a few new horrifying images burnt into my brain I think it’s time I go to my room and collapse. Good night, everyone.” Rantaro gave a quick wave and went to his room.

As soon as he hit the sheets, he was asleep.

——————

A few hours later, Korekiyo slipped into the room.

“Hello Korekiyo! It’s nice to see you!” Angie greeted, waving wildly.

“Let’s skip the formalities. I did what you wanted. Give me the video.”

“Nuh-uh!” She wagged her finger at him. “It’s already destroyed.”

“Then show me the pieces. I’m not letting you slip out of this.”

“It’s all gone! I smashed it really hard and then buried it in a spot nobody will ever find!”

“Show me. I doubt you could’ve possible had the time to do that in the little amount of time the power has been restored. I have no issue with torturing you.”

“Are you presuming we’re alone? All you can do is simply accept my word it’s destroyed, and move on!”

“That is most inconvenient for you. I promise you’ll regret trying to play with me like this.”

“Nah, I think I’ll be fine. After all, no way you’d make me your sister’s friend knowing what I’m really like, right? You’d hate to send the person who made you kill both Kaede and Gonta to your dear sister.”

“Don’t be too overconfident. I will get my closure on the secret. The second you are alone, you’ll talk. I’ll torture it out of you if that’s what it takes. Honestly, it seems like you’re bluffing.”

“Quite a dilemma for you huh? If you torture me, I’ll show everyone the wounds. Everyone will know what you are. If you kill me, I’ll make life hell for your sister and you’ll have to survive a class trial. Honestly, I was hoping you’d be nice and accepting of my word.”

“I’m going to get that video, or see it’s remains. I took out your opposition, yet you’d dare try and betray me. Such a shame you’d be so undiplomatic.”

“Oh c’mon! Diplomatic? I blackmailed you into murder! Speaking of, it’s a shame we only agreed to one thing. You executed my plan so perfectly. I’m so proud, and so is Atua. If only people had voted Tenko like I’d hoped.”

“I admit it was well planned, but there is one thing that confuses me. Why go to the effort of involving Himiko?”

“Huh? Whatever do you mean?”

“Your games tire me. You went to the effort of stealing her key and creating a mould. There were much simpler ways for us to set up a crime with the same result, yet you went out of your way to make her crossbow and the prayer circles important to the case.”

“Well, that’s pretty simple. It’s just the first step of my plan for her! You’ll just have to wait and see! The end results are gonna be pretty exciting!”

“I look forward to it. Since you aren’t going to provide my video, I’d like to inform you I’ve decided to make Kaede my 98th. I’ve decided to make my move and complete the 100 here. Consider it a warning.”

“Oh? And who would be your next two then?”

“That isn’t relevant to you, all you need to know is you won’t be one of them. That doesn’t however mean my two targets won’t be specifically chosen to make you suffer. I will be on my way, but let me be clear that I fully intend to get you to show me the location of the secret’s remains. If it even is destroyed. If you try and reveal my secret, I’ll tell them about your involvement.”

“Mutually assured destruction, huh? You would dare even try that to me? Well, sounds good. Bye now!”

——————

The next morning, Rantaro was woken up by his perk pad beeping. Pulling it out, he saw a new message from himself.

_ Rantaro, _

_ If you’re reading this, you’ve made it to chapter three of this killing game. You should be especially careful here. A common pattern during this chapter is that two people are killed by another. Make sure you’re not one of them. Keep an eye out for prominent figures during this time. The culprit will regularly pretend to be completely innocent by forcing others to give them an alibi, or by pretending to be a attempted victim of the culprit themselves. Remember to keep your cards close to your chest, and trust no one. I’m sure you’ve already realised this, but letting yourself be fooled into believing in people is incredibly dangerous. Anyone could be the mastermind. It’s safest to simply trust no one. I made the mistake of trusting others and it cost me dearly. The same thing will happen to you. _

_ As for the perk, it is a video I’ve recorded for you. It’s easier to articulate some things through speech then text after all. It’ll tell you some incredibly important info, so let me be clear: do not show this to anyone. If you have ignored my advice and decided to trust people, you still cannot show anyone. No matter how much you trust somebody, you have to watch this alone and tell no one about it until it’s absolutely necessary. _

_ On the topic of trust, let me remind you that the mastermind is one of the 12 of you left. I knew the mastermind of your killing game personally, I’d even say we were friends. Even so, they’re your enemy now. They could be any one of them as they are incredibly talented at hiding their true personality. Don’t forget, the mastermind will be completely aware of your perk. That makes you a target to them, because you will have the best chance at stopping them. Good luck, we’ll speak soon. _

_ -Rantaro _

_ He must be talking about Tsumugi... I was friends with her? _

_ More importantly, why is he so insistent I can’t trust anyone? If anything, trusting others has only been to my advantage. _

He swiped down, which revealed the perk. It was a video file just like his past self had said, and it was almost ten minutes long. He decided to watch it later, as it was almost time for daytime and likely the new prizes.

Outside, he ran into Kaito. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Rantaro asked.

“I’m fine, a little down after yesterday.”

“I meant health wise. I saw your secret, remember? I know you’re sick.”

“Oh. I’m good, alright? Don’t worry about me, I’m not gonna die yet! I haven’t even been to space yet after all!”

“Well, if you insist.” He nodded, pushing the dining hall doors open. Inside, they saw something they really hadn’t been expecting. “Angie? Are you okay?”

The artist was sobbing into the dining hall table, with Tenko and Himiko comforting her. Almost everyone else was scattered around the hall, all passing something around.

“Holy fuck.” Miu gasped from the corner. “You two have to see this!” She slid a secret video over to the two boys.

_ Korekiyo Shinguji! The Ultimate Anthropologist! _

_ Korekiyo Shinguji may officially be known as the Ultimate Anthropologist, but that’s not the only thing he’s known for.... _

_ When he was young, his sister passed away from an incurable illness. She died alone in hospital, with only her brother for support. Not a single friend ever came to visit her, which filled Korekiyo with rage. _

_ Since her death, he became obsessed with finding friends for his sister. At the time of recording, he’s found 97. And when I say found..... I of course mean killing them! That’s right, Korekiyo Shinguji is an infamous serial killer who’s taken the lives of 97 girls he saw fit for his sister! _

“That bastard... what kind of freak is he!?” Kaito chucked the secret onto the table, almost breaking it.

“Why haven’t you said anything about this sooner?” Rantaro asked.

“I tried to talk to him about it the night that Kaede passed, to see if it was really true! But Korekiyo threatened to kill me if I told anyone, and I was so scared that I couldn’t dare tell anyone while we were all trapped together!” Tears were running down her face, splashing on the table.

“You’re a terrible actor.” Kokichi glared from the corner.

“Don’t you start!” Tenko slammed her fist down. “To think he’d take the lives of so many innocent girls... I swear to god, when I see him..”

“Don’t kill him!” Himiko ordered. “Just maybe... beat him up a little.”

The doors opened once again, and Korekiyo walked in. “Morning, everyone. How are you all feeling?” He got no response, and after seeing Angie’s crying face, he sighed. “I see.”

“I would like to inform you all that she-“ Tenko and Kaito tackled him to the floor, restraining him and covering his mouth before he could say another word.

“My lab has handcuffs, and a prison cell. You can shove him in there.” Ryoma offered.

“Alright, get moving Kaito! Make sure he can’t pull out that knife of his.” Once they’d dragged him out of the room, everyone started to sit down and talk about the serial killer.

Rantaro was about to join them, but Kirumi gestured for him to follow her into the kitchen. 

“Hey, need my help?”

“Of course not!” She gave him an appalled look. “I can handle myself, you know. I just needed to give you this.” From behind her apron, she pulled out another secret video. 

“Who’s is it?”

“Let’s not talk about it here. Watch it alone, alright? Watching this with others would be a extremely bad idea.”

“Okay, I’ll watch it later. Is it bad?”

“I told you, we’re not discussing this here. I’m trusting you to be smart about this, so don’t show it to anyone.”

Before they could say anything else, the Monokubs appeared. 

“Hiya!” Monotaro greeted. “Miss us? We’ve got your prizes!”

“REMEMBER-TO-SHARE. GETTING-ALONG-IS-IMPORTANT.”

“Hell yeah! Today we’ve got a a golden hammer, a magic key and a ninja scroll!” Monokid chucked the hammer at Rantaro’s feet. When the boy leaned down to pick it up, he noticed the blue bear’s right leg had been hacked off.

“Another great collection of useless junk!” Monotaro cheered, throwing the scroll at Himiko, hitting her in the face.

“Hey shortie! Catch this!” The striped cub tossed the key at Ryoma.

“THIS-WAS-A-SUCCESSFUL-HANDOUT-OF-PRIZES. GOODBYE.” Monodam ran off, but the other 3 stayed.

“Hey... how long until you guys stop him?” Monokid asked, wringing his hands.

“Stop who?” Himiko looked up from the scroll.

“Monodam, duh!” Monosuke cleaned his glasses of sweat. “He’s completely psychotic!”

“He cut off my damn leg when I didn’t do something exactly right! He’s gotta be stopped!”

“If you’re harming each other, it sounds like we have no reason to get involved. You killing each other is only gonna help us!” The supreme leader lazily kicked at Monokid, who hopped out the way.

“Anyone? Please?” Monotaro desperately looked around the room, but nobody offered anything. 

“Fine! Screw you assholes, we can do it ourselves, and then you’ll pay!” The blue monokub hopped off as loudly as he could, followed by the other two.

“Oh, are those the prizes?” Kaito asked, walking back in with Tenko. “Korekiyo’s all locked up. There’s no way he’ll be able to get out.”

“Even so, it would make me feel better if there were some people guarding him. Would anyone be interested in guard duty?” Angie was now completely cheered up, displaying a big smile.

“We’ll set that up after we’re done exploring, alright?” Kaito agreed.

“You can set it up, but don’t involve me.” Nobody had noticed Maki was in the room until then, and she shoved past Kokichi and left the room.

“That’s like the fifth time! My arm is really starting to hurt...”

“I’ll go talk to her. Tell me what you guys find out, alright?” The astronaut pushed through the doors, calling out for her.

“So, what are the groups?” Miu asked.

“Oh no, you’re not involved Miu.” Kokichi grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the door with some effort. “Once you rebuild my Keebo, then you can explore. Get going!” 

“Hey! That’s not fair!”

“Can’t hear you!” He shoved the inventor out.

“Since I have this scroll... could Angie and Tenko come with me?”

“Of course Himiko! I’d be delighted!”

“Interested in joining me, Kirumi?” Ryoma offered, holding out the key. 

“Of course.”

“Guess it’s just us then.” Rantaro said to the beaming Kokichi. 

“Yep! C’mon, let’s get going!” The supreme leader sprinted out the door, with the other boy slowly following. 

“I already know where this goes...” The mage smiled to herself. “Because of my magic.”

“You’re so amazing Himiko!” Tenko cheered. “Lead the way!”

The girl led them to the ninja statue outside, where she slid the scroll in. A rumbling sound filled the air, and a dojo appeared.

“This is definitely my lab!” Tenko sprinted inside, practically breaking down the door. “Come in! Let’s practice Neo-Aikido!”

“Nyeh... that sounds like a lot of effort..”

“No worries! Angie then? I’ll be soft!”

“Mmm... okay! Just tell me what to-“ Tenko grabbed Angie’s arm and flung her to the ground. She then pulled her up again, and slammed her over and over like the artist weighed nothing. 

After a minute or two she stopped, leaving Angie to shakily try and stand up. “Wow! Neo-Aikido is so violent! I can barely feel my legs!”

“Yep! That’s all part of the skill! It’s great for stopping degenerates and other certain threats.”

Angie and Tenko both smiled at each other, though neither of them were genuine. “Why are you two looking at each other like that?” Himiko asked.

“No reason! Atua is so impressed by Neo-Aikido! He thinks maybe it’s almost as good as your magic, Himiko!”

“Atua likes my magic that much...?”

“Yep! He thinks it’s so amazing, he’d like to have you perform magic in his paradise one day!”

“That sounds nice... are there animals there?”

“Of course!”

“Can Tenko come?”

“Mmm... I’m not so sure if she’d be acceptable in such a pure place... after all, Atua is very displeased with her thoughts!”

——————

“This floor has quite a dark aura to it..” Ryoma had led Kirumi to a door straight out of a video game, and after unlocking it they walked upstairs into the fourth floor. 

“It seems to have not been touched in a very long time. I’ll have to clean it later, see if I can brighten it up a little.”

They found three small rooms, all completely identical except for a few random holes in the floors and walls. 

“Maybe they haven’t finished making these rooms yet?”

“Either that or it’s been left to us to do something with.” Ryoma suggested, almost falling through a hole.

“I’ll crowdsource some ideas later, see if anyone has something they’d like for me to set up here.”

“You’ve always got so much work, yet you seem to always be trying to add to it.” The tennis pro smiled to himself. “When will it become too much?”

Pushing into the next door, they were faced with a tall room that seemed to never stop. 

“This appears to be Korekiyo’s lab. It’s a shame he isn’t here to see it.” Kirumi sighed when she saw how many floors there were, knowing she’d have to clean them all.

“Let’s go get him.” Ryoma offered. “He’s handcuffed anyway, and he might be able to tell us about some of these objects.”

“I suppose there’s some logic to that. Let’s just be careful.”

When they entered the Ultimate Prisoner section of Ryoma’s lab, they found Korekiyo slumped in the middle cell.

“Ah! You’ve come to visit me!”

“Ryoma and I found your lab, so we’re going to take you there. You will remain handcuffed the entire time. Any objections?” 

“Not at all, I’m happy to stretch my legs. I have something to tell you two about anyway...”

——————

Korekiyo practically fainted in joy when he saw his lab. “This is incredible. These artefacts... they’re one of a kind! How is it possible for Monokuma to have gathered these?”

“You’re sure they’re not fakes?” The shortest boy asked.

“These are entirely real. I don’t know how Monokuma has done it, but he’s gathered artefacts that were once thought to be long gone! Except...” He walked over to a black book, standing in a display case by a golden sword. “May someone please remove this book for me?”

Kirumi took out the book under Ryoma’s watchful eye, and opened it to the first page. 

“As I thought... this is no artefact. It appears to be a item of Monokuma’s own creation.”

“What is it?” Kirumi questioned as she turned the next page over.

“It claims to be a book to revive the dead... it details an entire plan on how to do it as well, ending with burning it.”

“Will it actually work?”

“Normally I would say no... but who knows what’s possible in this school.”

“We better leave it for now then. We’ll discuss it with the others later.” Kirumi retuned the book to it’s case.

“Aside from the fake, this is an incredible lab. I would love to have days to explore every item... but I foresee you not allowing that.”

“You’re correct. You’ve got the rest of the floor before we return you to your cell.”

Bidding his lab goodbye, Korekiyo walked with the others to the final door.

“This appears to be Angie’s lab. How convenient for what I am planning to say next.”

“What would that be?” Ryoma questioned. 

“I have quite the story to tell you.. one that I will entrust to you two because I believe you’re the only ones who will hear me out, and do the right thing with it.” 

Korekiyo told them everything. Angie’s plan, what he did to Kaede, her promise of smashing the motive, the person hidden in Angie’s room protecting her, and Angie’s true nature.

“That’s quite an interesting story.” Ryoma sighed, leaning against the wall. “I’m surprised Yonaga would be that kind of person, presuming you’re telling the truth.”

“I hope you are able to understand my actions. I’d wanted to simply survive without murder, but I was not given the choice.”

“Why would you try such an obvious lie?” Kirumi asked.

“I assure you I’m not lying.”

“All this story has told me is that not only would you sacrifice Gonta for your own bloodlust, but that you’d also be willing to try and bring down an innocent person with you. You’re a truly disgusting human being. We shouldn’t have brought him out. Let’s take him back.”

“You want to dismiss him so easily?”

“Who should I believe? The killer responsible for 97 girls and two of our friends or a girl who’s shown no signs of being the manipulative witch he’s describing? He’s clearly trying to cause more chaos to use to his advantage. We’re taking him back.”

“Fair enough. Let’s go Korekiyo, I will keep what you’ve said in mind, but I don’t particularly believe it.”

“I’m disappointed, but not surprised. I knew it was a risk to try and tell you this, but I don’t regret it.”

Korekiyo was thrown back in his cage, sighing as he watched them attach an extra lock to the door. 

“Guard duty is going to start later on, so at least you’ll have some company. Goodbye.” Ryoma and Kirumi walked out, leaving Korekiyo alone.

——————

“Okay, I give up.” Kokichi sighed, lying back on a courtyard bench. “I have no clue what we’re meant to use this hammer for.”

“Let’s take a look at whatever has just been unlocked, it might be in there.”

“Fine! Better than checking everywhere again, I guess.”

They explored all of the fourth floor, but still saw nothing. “Okay, forget this. I seriously give up.” Kokichi collapsed. “Let’s just go see what the others have found. You can carry me.”

“I’d rather let you crawl.” As Rantaro went to walk down the stairs, Monosuke appeared out of nowhere. “You ain’t goin anywhere!”

“Are you actually trying to intimidate me?” Kokichi pulled out his knife. “Aw, I feel so bad for you!” 

“Leave me alone! I’m here to help ya, alright? Follow me, the hammer is for this weird glass art thing over ‘ere.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Rantaro questioned.

“Cuz Monodam set this puzzle up and I’d like it to fail spectacularly. Smash this with the hammer, alright? You never saw me.”

“Might as well try it.” Kokichi shrugged. 

Rantaro flung the hammer as hard as he could, and the glass shattered to pieces, revealing a hallway. “This school has such a weird layout. I don’t get how this is even an efficient way to construct a building.”

They found a massive computer, and a large box of technological pieces on the right. 

“Once Miu has rebuilt Keebo, she can look at this stuff. Until then, it’ll remain a mystery.” He spun around the room and saw a big chest in the corner. “Ooh! Hey, come help me open this!”

“You can’t do it yourself?” Rantaro questioned as he flipped the chest open.

“I can! I just wanted to see if you would!” He reached insided and pulled out a weird device. “Huh... it says it’s a flashback light. Any clue what that is?”

“None at all. Is it safe?”

“Says it only has one use on the label... I guess we better take it back to the others, otherwise they might be pissed.”

Grabbing Kaito and Maki on the way, they headed to the dining hall where everyone was, aside from Korekiyo.

“We found this. Anyone know what it is?” Rantaro placed the light on the table, where it was immediately snatched up by Angie. 

“Ooh! Looks high tech! Can you tell us what it does Miu?”

“Just looks like a normal torch to me.”

“Try turning it on!” Kaito excitedly suggested.

“Wait, are we sure that’s safe-“ Kirumi was interrupted by a blinding flash of light.

It seemed to fill Rantaro’s mind for a few moments, flashing every colour imaginable in quick succession before it all went white. Eventually, he was sucked into somewhere entirely else.

He was in a damp, dull room filled with rubble. Hunched against the wall opposite him, was someone he’d never expected to see again. 

“Hey Rantaro, who do you think will die first?” Tsumugi asked. “Me or you?”

“Neither.” The words came out of his mouth, but he was sure he didn’t say them. “She will die first, and we will leave.”

“Oh come on! You still don’t get it? She’s the protagonist of this whole story, remember? The whole fictional thing? She has to live. They always do. Case in point: she’s out there with them, yet the Monokumas are trying to come in here instead of swarming on her.”

“Not everything is an anime. She’s hiding from them just as we are, they have just unfortunately not found her yet. They’re trying to come in here because we barricaded the door, making it evidence of human life. Regardless of her protagonist role, she’ll be the one who dies. Either to the Monokumas, or I will kill her myself. It’s just a matter of which comes first.”

“There’s no chance the people running this will be happy with you killing their hero.”

“Then maybe they should’ve killed me off earlier. Nothing we’re doing is against the rules, it just happens to be against what they’d planned. “

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll just kill us afterwards? There’s no way we get away with surviving without punishment.”

“No punishment would be worse than this.”

She moved to look out the window. “Well, you might get your wish soon. She’s finally finished that bridge.”

Looking outside himself, Rantaro could finally see where this memory was taking place. The two were on the second floor of a building, and seemingly hundreds of Monokumas were swarming at a boarded up door, trying to break in. 

Across from the building was another, smaller building about 4 metres away. The girl they must have been talking about was camped on top, and she was trying to build a bridge between them by nailing planks of wood together.

“How did she even get the materials for that?” The boy asked. 

“She must’ve gotten in the warehouse. See what I mean? They’re ignoring her!”

“Not for long.” He pulled something out of his pocket. “This is our chance to get out of here. We just have to wait for her to start crossing the bridge.”

Nailing the last plank down, she started to push the bridge over to the other two. It rested on a ledge outside the window, and she started to slowly crawl over it. 

“Are you sure about this?”

“Would you rather one of us die?” Rantaro opened the window and held onto the other end of the bridge. “She’s chosen to trust us, despite the situation. It’s her fault this is going to happen.”

“It’s kind of a fucked up thing to do though, isn’t it? It’s a shame that sacrifice for thing failed. Would’ve been a better ending to this story.”

“Enough with the anime comparisons. We tried your way, now we’re doing mine. She is no better than us. This is about survival. Would you rather you died?”

The girl reached the halfway point. She met eyes with Rantaro, who gave a false and encouraging smile. He handed a box of matches to Tsumugi, who reluctantly lit one. Taking it back, he tossed it just in front of the girl, setting the bridge alight.

The fire quickly spread, and the girl screamed, trying to head back. She wasn’t fast enough, and the bridge started to collapse. She desperately tried to grab the ledge, but she missed and fell down into the swarm of Monokumas, who pounced on her.

“At least it was fast.” The blue haired girl sighed. After a couple minutes the Monokumas all ran away, leaving the corpse. “Is it safe to go out?”

Before he could feel himself say anything else, everything went white. After a few seconds his vision returned, and he was back in the dining hall.

“What the fuck did I just see?” Miu’s piercing voice filled the room. “That was my funeral! I ain’t dead!”

“You saw the same thing?!” Kaito yelled.

“And who was that group those people were talking about?” The maid asked.

“Maybe.. the people who put us here?” Himiko sighed. “I’m so tired of this place.”

“Damn this thing....” Kaito smashed the flashback light. “It just gave us more questions than answers.”

“Hey, what are you all talking about?” Rantaro asked. “What funeral?”

“Huh? You didn’t see it?”

“I just saw white for a few moments. Then I was back here.” Lying didn’t feel good, but he knew it was necessary. Especially after what he’d just seen himself do.

“It was our funeral. A funeral for the 16 of us! And they were talking about us dying in an accident, running away from some group.”

“Why didn’t you see anything?” Maki narrowed her eyes. 

“I’m not sure.. maybe it just glitched or something?” Rantaro shrugged

“That seems unlikely.”

“C’mon Maki! Have some trust! More importantly, what do we do now?” Kaito looked around the room.

“Mmm... this won’t really cheer people up, but I still want to organise guard duty! I’m thinking groups of a guy and a girl or two guys.” Angie bobbed her head from side to side. “Can’t have two girl groups, that’s just handing him what he wants.” 

“Okay, so who goes first?” The astronaut asked.

“I don’t mind volunteering.” Kirumi offered. “How long are the shifts?”

“Well.. say four hours for now? I’ll set up a full schedule soon!”

“Very well. Rantaro, would you mind joining me?”

“Sure, I don’t mind. I’m curious to see him anyway.”

Kirumi lead Rantaro towards the cell, focused on stopping Korekiyo harming anyone else. Unlike her, Rantaro was thinking about something very different, and wether or not it would be a good idea to tell her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hopefully the class trial wasn’t too bad. I’ll be honest, I hate writing class trials. It’s definitely my least favourite part. Almost all of it is dialogue, and with so many characters it’s hard to not just go Kirumi said Tenko Said Kaito Said over and over. Either way, Gonta died. It’s also incredibly hard for me to make the characters come to conclusions naturally, instead of it seeming like they randomly figure it out.
> 
> I wanna shout out KiiboTheCinnamonRoll for guessing how the murder happened. I’m actually pretty happy only one person guessed correctly, especially as I was constantly telling myself it’s going to be very obvious.
> 
> I thought about leaving it a mystery as to who set the crime up, but I ultimately decided instead this way was better. It shows what Angie is willing to do to stop her opposition, which will be important.
> 
> Some people may not like Keebo’s absence. Trust me, I don’t either. It won’t last for much longer, but it’s necessary for something to come.
> 
> I was sure when I started this series that Gonta would live. Mainly because I was traumatised by chapter four. Sadly, I knew when I was writing this chapter that he had to be one of the two to break the door down. Not only because it gives him a good ending, protecting his friends but also because of what I can now do with Tenko. 
> 
> You probably would expect some kind of change on her attitude towards men, and that’s definitely coming, but she was mostly the same in this chapter because I didn’t want to force that in as well. With the flash back light, unlocking areas, Korekiyo, Angie, the perk, and the video Kirumi gave to Rantaro it felt like a bad idea to try and put another thing in. 
> 
> Speaking of all that, let me talk about it. I’ve decided to officially go against the canon previous to V3 a little bit here. In the game, Rantaro and another person sacrificed themselves in the name of hope and were punished (rantaro’s punishment was participating in the next killing game. We don’t know what the other person’s was, but in this Tsumugi was forced to be the mastermind). I wanted to do something different just because I thought it’d be really interesting. I decided to have that second survivor be Tsumugi because while it’s likely she wasn’t actually the second person in the canon, I don’t really like writing OCs. Usually if i try them, they feel out of place. That’s also why I didn’t give the protagonist Rantaro killed a name. 
> 
> Speaking of Rantaro, his past self is kind of fucked up. That should be pretty obvious. In the game, I always wondered wether Rantaro was blindly trusting his past self or not, which is why I thought it would be interesting to do something like this. I know that’s a pretty vague explanation, but I’m really trying hard not to spoil or imply anything that’s going to happen in the future.
> 
> I could drone on about the rest of what happened in this chapter, but I might accidentally reveal too much. It’s probably best to leave it here. Thank you for reading, we hit 1000 reads at some point today I’m pretty sure. That’s pretty cool, I was kind of expecting this to be dead in the water.
> 
> Next chapter should be soon, like mentioned last chapter in the notes I cut a daily life in half and added the first half to this, meaning I already have a basic write up for the rest. No promises on how long it’ll take, considering I promised like four days for the class trials and I accidentally took 14. Thanks fo reading, if you comment I’ll try and respond as soon as possible because they really are appreciated. Once again, let me know if you saw a mistake as it’s always possible for something to slip through.


	12. Daily Life II

_ 98.....99.....  _ Miu willed the machine to finish, nervously excited to make contact.  _....100! _

She quickly grabbed the microphone. “Hey! You hearin’ me?”

A man’s voice came through the speakers. “Who... who is this?”

“You haven’t heard of me? I’m Miu Iruma, dipshit!”

“Uh...” The man’s voice got further away. “Hey, I think we have a problem.”

“Damn right we do! What’s with the antenna in my robot’s head!”

A woman’s voice took over. “We don’t know what you’re talking about. We are simply a tech support company. Will you please disconnect from our computers?”

“Tech support company my ass! I traced the signal! I know it was you!”

“What do we do?” The man asked in the background. “There’s no protocol for this...”

“To think you were watching me while I did all those... things through his eyes! I wouldn’t have minded of course, that’s if I’d known!”

“We know nothing about any robot, or antenna.” The woman said.

“Mmm... I’m liking the look of those broadcasts you’re doing! Maybe I’ll hijack them and get you taken off the air! How does that sound? Wanna talk now?”

“Broadcasts? What are you talking about? I told you, we’re simply a tech support company.”

“Sure you are!” She swivelled her over to check the other monitor.  _ 78% complete.  _ “Listen up lady! I have the robot and you don’t! You must’ve put that antenna in him for a reason, aren’t you gonna be in trouble without it?”

“Uh, ma’m! We have a problem, I think she’s-“

“Silence.” A loud slap could be heard over the speakers. 

“That still means nothing to us Miss Iruma, we don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Listen lady, you’re running this joint, or at the very least involved! I’m throwing the evidence in your face and you can’t just deny it with no argument!”

“Really? I can’t deny knowing about a antenna in a robot? Robots are not real. You’re either insane or trying to pull off an elaborate lie.”

“Wait!”  _ 90 percent there...  _ “How about a deal?”

“What could we possibly need from you?”

“I have Keebo!”

“As I’ve already said, robots aren’t real.”

“Ah! I knew you were involved! I never said the robot was Keebo!”

“Tch. It was just simple deduction, that’s all.”

Her second monitor dinged. “Okay then, it was nice talking to you! Bye, love you!”

“What?”

“Yep! See ya!” Miu closed the call, and disconnected from the other people.  _ File download successful.  _ “Alright! Heist successful!”

She opened the first file.  Creation of the characters was it’s name. “C‘mon... show me all your secrets.”

Meanwhile, Kirumi and Rantaro were walking to Ryoma’s lab. “I need to warn you.” The maid said, stopping him when they got to the door. “It’s likely he is going to try and tell you a story. I’ve already heard it, and it’s completely ridiculous. It is clearly a plot to cause tension within our group. Make sure you ignore it, alright?”

“Wow, that’s a lot to process.” Rantaro smiled.

“Be serious!” She tutted at him as she opened the door, quickly walking into the prisoner side of the lab.

“I am! I’ll be sure to ignore everything he says, alright?”

“Kirumi? You’ve returned? Perhaps you’ve decided to trust in me?” The Anthropologist was ignored. “Ah, and Rantaro as well! I appreciate the company.”

“Wait here, I’ll fetch us some chairs.” Kirumi told her partner, getting a nod in response.

“So! How have you been Rantaro? I have had the most interesting couple of days.. did you hear about how Ang—“

“Sorry, but Kirumi already told me to ignore everything you say.”

“And you’re going to listen to her?”

“I mean yeah, it’s either her or someone who is clearly insane. Which would you believe?”

“Insane?”

“I knew you were a bit eccentric before, but you’re clearly completely insane! There’s no other way to explain how you could possibly justify killing 97 girls, not to mention fooling yourself into believing in somehow being able to send these girls to your sister.”

“It is acceptable for us to have different beliefs. I understand you cannot see the logic in my actions, but I do. Soon enough I’ll be reunited with my sister, and all the friends I’ve found for her.”

“Why would your victims want to be friends with your sister?”

“No matter their reservations with me, my sister is a warm and kind person. Anyone who met her would want to be her friend. Not to mention, many of my victims are unaware of my role in their death.”

“If your sister is such a kind person, surely she would object to you killing these girls?”

“She won’t know.”

“But you just said some of your victims don’t know you killed them, which mean the rest do, and could tell your sister. How do you even know what you’re doing is a gift to your sister? What if she is desperately hoping you stop killing people? If she’s as kind as you say, then surely you murdering people for her would only upset her? Do you even know any of this is actually working, or are you just fooling yourself into somehow believing this makes sense?”

“All your questions.... You’re suggesting my actions to try help her are just torturing her? You.... I have dedicated my life to this! I know she is thankful for what I’m doing, and you being incapable of understanding that won’t stop me!”

Before Rantaro could respond, Kirumi returned holding two chairs. “I apologise for the wait. Angie stopped me, hoping to discuss something. What’s with the arguing?”

“It may have gotten a little heated,” Rantaro smiled, taking a chair from her. “I wouldn’t call it arguing though.”

“Sure.” She narrowed her eyes. “We have roughly four hours here. Then we’ll be relieved by Kaito and Ryoma.”

“Well, do not let me disturb you if you wish to talk amongst yourselves.” Korekiyo said, lying down on his back. “I do not wish to speak to either of you, especially as one of you is clearly so idiotic.”

“Am I the idiotic one?” Rantaro asked.

“Why are you still trying to talk to him?” Kirumi glared.

“You certainly are. It couldn’t be Kirumi of course. You know, my sister always wanted to be rich, I’m sure she’d love a maid. Now if only I could get you alone, Kirumi.”

“Okay!” Kirumi clapped her hands together, silencing Rantaro before he could respond. “How about we just don’t talk at all?”

The silence lasted for a few minutes. Korekiyo lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Rantaro looked out the window at the pool, wondering if he’d survive the jump. Kirumi had spotted a leaking faucet and was attempting to fix it with her bare hands.

“Since you’re here, would you mind getting me some food? I haven’t had food or water since I was thrown in here.” Korekiyo requested.

“Very well. Rantaro, please go get him some food.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Go. I can handle myself with him alone, which you clearly can’t.” 

That last bit stung a little, but even so Rantaro nodded and sprinted out of the room. He dashed to the kitchen as quickly as he could, hoping he hadn’t just sealed Kirumi’s death. Once he reached the kitchen, he found a meal that would’ve been Korekiyo’s breakfast in the fridge, and started to heat it up in the microwave. He knew Kirumi would be even more annoyed to know he’d done this to one of her meals, but that wasn’t really his priority. 

“Rantaro!” Angie greeted, practically jumping on the boy. “Why aren’t you guarding Korekiyo?”

“Kirumi made me go get him so food.” The green haired boy shivered a little when he saw Angie slowly turn her head. “Is that fine by you..?”

“Mmm....” Angie bobbed her head from side to side for what felt like hours. “Sure! I wanted to talk to you anyway! It’s really important!”

——————

Kaito leant against the wall, sighing. “How long are you gonna keep this up?”

“Forever.” Maki said through the door. When the keys to the new areas of the school had been handed out, Kaito had instead gone to try and convince Maki to come out of her room for once. He’d been outside her door ever since, beginning to give up hope.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“No, I’m trying to survive. What’s so hard to understand about that?”

“You’re trying to stay alive, yet you’re staying alone so you never have an alibi?”

“An alibi isn’t everything. They were almost completely meaningless in the past trial. If they decide to vote for me over lack of alibi, then we probably deserve to die.”

“Why not just remove the risk of that by spending time with people?”

She sighed loudly. “Do you seriously not get it? Spending time with people makes me a target.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“Let’s use Korekiyo as an example. He just got outed as a serial killer. Let’s imagine I had been spending time with you all, and Korekiyo had gotten to know me enough to decide I would be a good friend for his sister. And then he tries to kill me.”

“But that’s just a special example! It’s not like everyone is like that!”

“He is a special example, but my point is when people get to know me and who I really am, I become a target.”

“Who you really are, huh? So who are you?”

“What makes you think I’d tell you that? More importantly, don’t jsut ignore my point.”

“Is it to do with what’s in your lab?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m just making a guess here, but it makes sense, at least I think it does. If your goal was really just wanting to stay away from people with no other reasons, you’d stay in your room, right? But you’re not, you’re staying in your lab. You haven’t let anyone in, so there must be something inside you don’t want to see.”

Maki stayed silent.

“I mean, maybe I’m totally wrong here but I don’t see why else you’d stay in there and not your room, the place with a bed.” 

“You’re completely wrong.”

“Then let me in! If you show me I’m wrong and it’s just a normal lab, I’ll walk away and never speak to you again, okay?”

“...”

“Listen, I promise you whatever it is won’t be something I’d share. That’s a man’s promise! You can trust me, and if it’s really a big secret then I’d do anything I could to help it stay that way!”

Maki went silent. Kaito couldn’t even hear her breathing.

“Who would you rather be the first to find out? Me, or Kokichi? You know he’s investigating you, right? He’s probably planning some way to expose whatever’s up with you.”

Kaito waited another few minutes. “Well, I’ve said my pitch. I’ll give you some time to think.”

He got up to leave, but was stopped. “Wait.” Maki said, holding the door open. “I’ll let you in. But let me be clear: you tell anyone, and you’ll regret it, alright?”

——————

“Here’s the food.” Rantaro said, pushing the door open. To his surprise, Kirumi had somehow managed to bring a kettle and prepared a cup for both of them. “I just heated up the breakfast you’d prepared for him earlier, if that’s okay. Where’d the tea come from? I was in the kitchen the entire time.”

“You think I’d keep my supply of tea only in one place?” She laughed.

Sliding the food under the door to Korekiyo, they sat down for the tea.

“Make sure to tell me what you think of it. It’s my personal favourite: Earl grey, a classic British tea.”

“Oh, I’ve been there, even lost a sister there.” He took a sip, and instantly had to try and hide his distaste.

“Not a fan?” Kirumi asked.

“No, no, I do like it. It’s nice.”

“You don’t have to lie to me. I’m glad you don’t like it, as you’re the last person I’ve tested it on. Nobody else likes it, which means the entire Earl grey tea supply is all for me.” Her face broke out into a smug grin as she finished the cup.

“Pot’s all yours them.” Rantaro smiled.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, with only the sounds of Korekiyo eating. 

“Hiya!” Angie burst through the door, waving excitedly.

“There goes the mood.” Kirumi sighed.

“Please come down stairs you two! We’re having a meeting in the dining hall. It’s time! You can stay here Korekiyo, since you have no friends anyway.”

“Very well.” Korekiyo nodded.

Everyone else was already in the dining hall, even Maki to Rantaro’s surprise. “Everyone!” Angie clapped, silencing the room. “I would like to make an announcement! Over the course of today, I came to many of you in hopes of forming something every school needs: a student council!”

“Wow, and you didn’t think to come to me?” Kokichi teared up.

“Anyway! Here are the people I’ve chosen: Himiko, Tenko, Rantaro and Kirumi! Please clap for them everyone!”

“I’m not gonna clap for your entertainment! Why didn’t you pick me?” Kaito yelled.

“Let’s just say I think you’re probably more suited to being a follower than a leader, alright?”

“You seriously went to Kaito but not me?” Kokichi cried out.

“Uh-huh! So! Everyone who’s name I just said, please follow me to my lab for our first meeting!”

“Do we have a choice?” Rantaro asked.

“Not unless you want to be punished!” With that, Angie ran out of the room. Himiko, Tenko and Kirumi all followed and after some time, so did Rantaro.

“You’re seriously going?” Kaito raised his eyebrows.

“I mean of course, I really don’t want to find out what she considers a punishment.” 

When he found them in Angie’s lab, she had made the others sit in a circle with her. “Oh good, you’ve arrived!”

As the only space in the circle was between Kirumi and Himiko, Rantaro unfortunately had Angie directly opposite him. 

“So! I have decided our first act as the school council will be to hold a party!”

“Is a party really the first thing we should be focusing on?” Kirumi questioned. 

“Yep! So, let’s discuss the events!”

“Events?” The survivor asked. “Don’t we just need like food, music and a place to sit or something?”

“Nope! This party has to be a grand occasion so we can display our ability to run this school!”

“Then how about a magic show?” Tenko jumped up excitedly. 

“Himiko never got to do the one she had planned!”

“Nyeh.... fine..”

“Excellent idea! How about you Rantaro? Any ideas?”

“Uhhh...” He desperately tried to think of something. “Fireworks?”

“I imagine Miu would have the ability to create those with ease.” The maid pulled out a pad and started to jot things down.

“But isn’t she being forced to rebuild Keebo?” Himiko asked.

“I’m sure she won’t mind taking a break!” Angie beamed.

“If you tell her to do the fireworks instead, you’ll probably piss off Kokichi.” Rantaeo already regretted saying anything. “We should just do it ourselves.”

“How Kokichi feels is irrelevant. All you need to worry about is how I feel, okay?” Angie smiled annoyingly sweetly. “I’ll get Miu to build the fireworks. Now, Kirumi would you be able to handle the food?”

“With ease.” Kirumi said proudly. “Just provide me with a list and what times you need it for, and I’ll get it all done.”

“Okay! Everyone, what foods should we have?” The group burst into conversation, all while Rantaro wished he was anywhere else.

——————

When the meeting was finally over, the green haired boy trudged back to his room with only one thing in mind: sleep.

Before that though, he had to watch his perk and the motive Kirumi had given him.

When he got in he chose to start with the perk, and check over the letter again beforehand. It was everything he’d remembered. Two people would likely be murdered this chapter, anyone could be the mastermind and to trust no one. 

The last point especially stuck out to him. He didn’t know what his previous self had been through, but his insistence on trusting no one was really bothering Rantaro. 

He shook his head.  _ Enough thinking, I’m too tired for this.  _ He pressed play on the video.

He wasn’t sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn’t this. It was just a video of Monokuma dancing. He skipped through the entire thing, but it was just the bear dancing over and over.

“HOW-DO-YOU-LIKE-YOUR-NEW-PERK?” Monodam asked.

“It’s not a perk, is it? Unless there’s a hidden message or something.”

“IT-IS-THE-ONLY-KIND-OF-PERK-YOU-DESERVE. FROM-THE-START-YOU-HAVE-BEEN-GIVEN-AN-UNFAIR-ADVANTAGE-BY-MY-FATHER-AND-IT-IS-NOW-COMING-TO-THE-END. EVERYONE-MUST-GET-ALONG-AND-THAT-REQUIRES-EQUALITY. THAT-LETTER-WAS-THE-LAST-ONE-ALREADY-SET-TO-BE-SENT-TO-YOU. THE-VIDEO-ORIGINALLY-ATTACHED-HERE-HAS-BEEN-PLACED-ELSEWHERE. YOU-WILL-NOT-RECEIVE-ANYTHING-ELSE-WHILE-I-AM-IN-CHARGE.”

Before Rantaro could respond, Monodam was gone. He chucked the perk pad aside, reaching for the secret.  At least this’ll be something. 

_ Kaede Akamatsu! The Ultimate Pianist! _

_ Say.... you remember the day Shuichi died, right..? Everyone felt so bad for poor Kaede as she held his body, and especially when she became a suspect in the trial. _

_But you know, Tsumugi wasn’t the only one planning a murder that day._

The screen cut from Monokuma’s face to footage of Kaede. First it was her grabbing a shot put ball, then her arranging books in the library, and finally her removing tape from the flash of one of the cameras.

_ You’re probably wondering what all that means, right? Well, let me talk you through it... _

Monokuma’s recording explained how she intended to drop the shot put ball down the vent in the classroom, ultimately landing on the head of someone. 

_ Now I’m sure the most pertinent question on your mind is who Kaede’s intended victim was, right? _

_ Well, that’s simple! _

The footage changed so quickly it made him jump, and when he saw what was now on the video a chill ran down his spine.

_ That’s right! Kaede’s intended victim was no other than Rantaro! She planned to ask Shuichi to bring Rantaro to the library, who would insist to Rantaro it was something he could tell no one and then leave him there waiting for Kaede’s arrival. _

_ You can probably guess what happens next. Rantaro sees the camera’s flash, walks forward to deal with it knowing Shuichi needs this to be a secret and then the shot put ball caves his head in! _

_ Pretty clever, huh? To think she’d even force Shuichi to be an accomplice!  _

_ In case you aren’t convinced, he’s a little bit of audio from when Shuichi and Kaede were in the classroom together! _

The footage cut to a shot from behind Kaede’s back. You could only see Shuichi’s face, who looked terrified.

_ I'm perfect for a killing game. I don't have any faith in humanity! _

_ That was undeniably her voice.  _ Rantaro cringed.  _ Shit, is this seriously real? Is this what she was actually like? No wonder Shuichi looks horrified. _

_ So!  _ Monokuma’s piercing voice brought him back to reality.  _ Here’s the real question! Can you really trust her now? So much for wanting to get everyone out alive, huh? How do you know she isn’t just planning to do the exact same thing again? _

The video cut, leaving him to stare at nothing but his reflection. A thousand thoughts were running through his mind, but one stood out the most.

_ Maybe my past self had a point. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how long this took to come out. I know I say this literally every chapter, and I really have no excuse.  
> This was another pretty plot filled chapter, so I’d really like to write a chapter that’s less of that next time, which is why next chapter will be three free time events and that’ll be about it. Because if it were up to me I’d always pick the same couple of people, so anyone reading this is allowed to vote for these three free time events here:
> 
> https://forms.gle/hqrtHm3Ytyi9zJnw8
> 
> I will pick the top three overall, and Keebo isn’t included because he’s deconstructed for now.
> 
> I know usually I write a massive note talking about the entire chapter and what happened in it, but I’m very tried so I worry me doing this would make me slip up and reveal something so I won’t be doing that today. I’ll still respond to any comments people leave for the next few hours, as I’ll likely be awake. If I’m not I’ll respond to them essentially as soon as they’re important.
> 
> Anyway, thank you very much for reading this chapter. View count for this story is consistently going up, and while I don’t know if everyone has made it to the previous chapter, I’m still very thankful to have this many people even bother to try it.


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